Wicked! A Musician's Fan Fiction
by wickedmetalviking1990
Summary: Set in an Oz similar to the 60s, 70s and early 80s, we see the story of Wicked told as the characters become members of a band and the misadventures they have therein! Back again for Act II! slight-AU
1. Something in the Mail

**(AN: Welcome again to yet another fan-fiction about Wicked! Unlike _Another Journey_ or _The Great War of Oz_, this will not be too dark or based on the book, but rather on the musical! Horay! Also, this will not be an epic adventure story [though it is definitely an adventure, to say the least].)**

**(Right now its a starter that has a bit of lol-moments to start us off with our story. It will get better, I promise you. Now enjoy!)**

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><p><strong>Something in the Mail<strong>

Somewhere on the grounds of Shiz University, there is a little building where the students go to get their mail.

Here the two most unlikely of friends were getting their mail.

"Another letter from father," Elphaba said, turning over the few things in her long, green fingers. "_The Munchkin Banner_, an unmarked letter and that's it."

"Oh, your mailbox is so empty!" the blond-haired little ball of excitement and glee at her side pouted. "I think I'm gonna send you a letter one day, just to brighten up your day!"

"Galinda, dear," the green-skinned woman threatened, placing a green hand on the blond's shoulder. "If you dare send me one of your pink, scented stationery letters, I'll steal your favorite brush!"

"You wouldn't dare!" gaped Galinda. "That's made of real horse-hair! It's oh so soft!"

"You mean Horse hair," Elphaba corrected. "And who knows if the Horse wanted to donate their hair, it might have been taken by force."

"You miss my point, Elphie!" the little blond said, shaking her curly hair about in a silly manner. "Your mailbox is too empty, and I'm gonna send you a letter just so you can have something fun to look at every once in a whiles!"

"Might as well tell Nessa to stop griping every two seconds." Elphaba murmured under her breath. She then turned back to where Galinda was going through her mailbox.

"Besides, its impractical to send a letter when we're room-mates." she reminded her. "Postage is expensive enough as it is."

"What does money matter when it comes to friends?" Galinda brushed off.

Elphaba's mouth went dry. This was far too nice coming from Galinda. But she reminded herself that Galinda's family was ridiculously wealthy, and so they could afford it. A grimace came over her face, but she just shook her head and turned her head to her little blond roomie.

"What did you get?" she asked.

Galinda pulled out a large newspaper, that looked more like a magazine.

"_The Gilikin Gazette_!" she squealed. "The only high society magazine outside the Emerald City for all things fashion, beauty, style and gossipary." She giggled, then made a face and tossed aside something that said "_Gilikin Times._"

"A love letter from Gelliod," she announced, then leaned aside and whispered very loudly. "I don't even know who that is!" She tossed the letter aside. "A love letter from Avaric." She giggled scandalaciously, then slipped it into her hand-bag.

"A love letter from Bick," she groaned, tossing it aside. "_another_ love letter from Bick..." She groaned again, then tossed it aside with the others. She flipped through and her mouth hung open in the usual, Galinda-fied gasp.

"Sweet Oz, where does he get the money for all this stationery!" she exclaimed.

"Not to mention stamps, probably also made from glue that came from Horse-bone," Elphaba added. "I wonder if they gave _that_ voluntarily."

"Elphie, would you stop it?" Galinda moaned. "There are more important things in my life right now than horsies, okay?" She continued through the letters. "Did he just send me _all_ of these?"

"They can't _all_ be from him," Elphaba reasoned. "Let me see."

"That's not right, you know." a voice called authoritatively from behind them. Elphaba turned and saw Nessarose, wheeling herself up behind them.

"Looking at someone else's mail," she replied, sounding very offended and 'holier than thou.' "Father would be so ashamed of you."

"I'm not reading Galinda's mail," Elphaba defended. "I'm just sorting through some junk mail." But Nessarose kept her nose up-turned.

"Uh, Nessarose?" Galinda asked. "Where's Bick?"

"Who?"

"Boq." Elphaba corrected.

"Oh, he said he had to write home, so he's back at his dorm." Nessarose replied. "He's so thoughtful that way, always caring about his family." She turned a scathing look to Elphaba. "Not that _**YOU'D**_ know anything about that."

Elphaba didn't say anything, but Nessarose rolled herself away.

"Ugh!" Galinda groaned. "That's got to be ten love letters from Bick!"

"Let me see that," Elphaba siezed the letters from Galinda and began pouring through them. The love letters were easy to recognize, for they were covered in little pink hearts and said 'I love you' on them.

"Boq..." she said, moving the eleventh letter from where it was stashed. "Boq again...Boq...Boq...Boq...Boq...Boq..." She stopped saying his name and just flipped through the letters.

"He _does_ write a lot of love letters!" Elphaba exclaimed.

"It's a little creepy." she admitted. "Oh, maybe I should ask Horrible Morrible for a order of restrainment."

"This one's not from Boq," Elphaba asked. "It's..." Galinda almost could see Elphaba's shoulder slump as she saw who it was from.

"Who's it from?"

"Fiyero." she replied plainly.

"Speak of the Kumbric Witch," the haughty Winkie prince said as he stepped up behind her and took the letter from Elphaba's hand with a flourish. "And she arrives."

"I guess the same goes for air-head princes too." she returned.

"I thought I was empty-headed," he returned. He then slid over to Galinda, who giggled flirtatiously and tossed her curls.

"This is for you," he said, handing the letter to Galinda.

"Oh, Fiyero!" she returned. "You're the greatest."

"You're the greatest." he returned, touching her cute button nose with his finger.

Fiyero laughed his happy-go-lucky chortle and Galinda giggled in her sickly-sweet manner.

Neither of them noticed the green girl walking towards them.

"Here's the rest of your mail, Galinda." she said to her roomie. "Thirty love letters from Boq."

"Thirty?" exclaimed Fiyero, with feigned interest. "And who is this Boq? Not that stiff, pin-striped Munchkin who loves books and has a crush on you?"

"Yes, the same one." Galinda sighed, returning to her letters.

"You know," Fiyero suggested. "I could always sick Avaric on him. Maybe have some of the boys from Ozma Towers take him to the Philosophy Club."

"You wouldn't dare!" Elphaba threatened, her pointed face now very close to Fiyero's.

"Wouldn't I?" he replied, a smirk on his face at how close he was to the green girl, and how angry she looked over what he said.

A squeal came from Galinda.

"What is it?" Elphaba asked, turning to her room-mate.

"It's from Momsy and Popscicle!" she squealed. "Whenever they write me they always send money!" She made a noise that was half-way between a squeal and a scream, bouncing up and down and waving her arms about like little wings.

Both Fiyero and Elphaba covered their ears against Galinda's glass-shattering noises of exuberant glee.

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><p><strong>(Yeah, a little short. Please review and tell me if they're acting OOC or just right. Things will get VERY interesting in the next chapter, I can promise you that!)<strong>

**(fyi, Gelliod is just some random Gilikinese boy who had a crush on Galinda before she came to Shiz. Nothing very important, just fluff)  
><strong>


	2. Talking About Music

**(AN: Before we delve into this story, let me state a few things that are different in this ff than the main Wicked time-line. First of all, electricity is in Oz, and record players and vinyls are the new thing. This Oz based heavily on the 60s, 70s and 80s. Well, after all, comparisons between Wicked the Book and Nixon-US have been drawn, therefore it seems appropriate to put Oz in this period of chaos. There will be mentions to things from that era like apartheid and segregation, espionage and such. In short, it's still the same Oz, just a few years older with a little bit of technology. lol)**

**(Here we have some Fiyeraba moments [or, as I used to call it Fae-Yero. lol]. I'm not good at romance, so I hope you can stomach my poor attempts at this. I have nothing against Gelphie, but I'm more partial towards Fiyeraba, and it fits in later in the story)**

**(Enjoy)**

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><p><strong>Talking About Music<strong>

"Would you please remind me why you forced me to tag along on your little shopping spree?" Elphaba asked, while she was being dragged along by the little blond energy bomb, bouncing along in front of her.

Her bouncing blond hair almost looked like the sparkling wick.

"Just follow me, Elphie!" Galinda squealed, not even relenting as she bounded on down the streets of the university-town that surrounded Shiz.

"If you wanted someone to carry your bags," Elphaba said. "You could have just taken Fiyero instead."

"Yeah," the Winkie prince added, as he strode along, his long strides easily keeping up with Galinda's bouncing. "You could have taken me."

"Because I want _both_ of you to see what I'm gonna get!" Galinda said, turning her head back just a bit.

Suddenly, she skid to a stop.

Quite a feat for someone in heels.

She was looking at a store called "The Emerald Trader", with her mouth gaping open in her usual, girlish "ooh!"

"Sweet Oz!" she shouted out. "I didn't know Shiz had one of these yet!"

"What?" Elphaba asked.

Galinda made a grunt of playful exasperation, turning around to face her roomie. Sometimes, Elphaba could be so behind the times.

"Only the best department store in all of Oz!" she breathed, before going into her usual "ooh!"

"Oh, great." Fiyero commented.

"Fifi, it's not like that!" she rebutted, playfully slapping his shoulder with her hand-bag. "This store has everything new from the Emerald City. It's the closest thing to actually being there!"

She ran into the store, pushing open the huge wooden doors, with her two, unwitting victims following on behind. Once inside, Galinda gasped in her usual way. Elphaba's hand quickly went up to cover her own, gaping mouth.

There was everything here! Anything an Ozian would ever want or need that was the latest rage or fashion in the Emerald City was here in this store. Five long aisles had nothing but clothes, shoes and hats. Beyond that was a table with some new invention made by the engineers of the Wonderful Wizard himself.

Elphaba's eyes were drawn towards the front counter. A basket held dozens of emerald-shaded glasses, with a tag on the bottom that said 'Fashionable and Protective'. A sign posted on the wall behind the front counter said 'See the Spectacle: Tickets to the Emerald City Wizomania Sold Here!'

On all of these items there was a small price tag with a little black balloon, with fine letters in green printed along the inside edge.

"This item is an official product of the Emerald City, and has been built by the hands of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz himself."

Elphaba's heart lept within her chest.

It was all so spectacular.

Galinda, meanwhile, bounced off down the aisles of clothes, while Fiyero rolled his eyes and turned to the green girl.

"She can be a lot, can she?" he commented.

"You have no idea." Elphaba replied. She turned to her right and her mouth suddenly became dry.

She realized that she was alone with Fiyero again, whoever was behind the counter was out of sight, and he was just within arm's reach. She felt like she couldn't breathe unless she was closer to him. Just one little touch wouldn't hurt, she thought. Galinda was far too busy with whatever she was looking for in this huge department store to realize that her best friend was hitting on her boyfriend.

Elphaba's common sense snapped her back into reality. She couldn't do that to Galinda, that was just so...so like her, to just take whatever she wanted without thinking of consequences.

Like Galinda, not like Elphaba.

Yet she couldn't pull her eyes away from him.

"Fifi!" a voice shouted from the back of the store. "Would you be a dearie and help me with this?"

"Uh, sure, pumpkin!" he returned. "Anything you say." He looked at the green girl, and found that he couldn't even bring himself to talk.

It was ridiculous, he thought. She was green, after all. How could he be interested in her? His own self rose up to justify his prejudice by saying that she probably didn't like him either, too aggressive and ready to explode upon whoever rubbed her the wrong way. It was simply safe-hunting, to stay away from her.

But those brown eyes seemed to be piercing into his soul, exposing every single part of his being that he didn't want to believe existed, which he fought so hard to suppress with his partying and his lascivitious lifestyle.

Just like that day with the Lion-cub...

_What, am I thinking now?_ he thought.

_There I go again!_

"Fiyero!" Galinda sang from the back of the store.

"Coming!" he finally got out, turning away from those piercing brown eyes and walking to the back of the store.

Elphaba let out a sigh, almost forgetting what it was like to breathe again.

"Elphie, come on!" Galinda called from where she and Fiyero were.

Together...alone...

No, she told herself. Snap out of it. Don't be thinking such thoughts.

She slowly walked over to the store, where she saw Fiyero with a large, wooden case in his arms and Galinda going through a long box filled with these thin cases a foot square, made out of paper.

"Uh," Elphaba said, looking at the large, and very heavy, case that Fiyero was struggling to keep from dropping. "What is that?"

"That is a record player!" Galinda announced, throwing her arms up and waving her fingers about, with a huge smile on her face.

"Huh?" both Fiyero and Elphaba returned.

"It's this new inventionation," she began, turning her attention to the square cases. "from the Emerald City. You put these in it..." She took out one of the cases and slid a large black disc out from between the sleeves of the case into her hand. "...and they play music!"

"This is new." Elphaba said. "I didn't know you liked music."

"Are you joking, Elphie?" Galinda gasped, playfully pushing her friend's shoulder. "I love music! Now, here," She picked up the box filled with the paper sleeves, filled with their black discs, and deposited the box into Elphaba's arms before she could protest.

Elphaba suddenly threw her arms out to grab the box before it fell out of her hand.

Oz knows, she thought, I don't have enough to pay for all these if I drop them.

"Pick out two that you like," Galinda said. "Fifi can have three, and..." She scanned through the cases quickly, punctuating each one she passed with a "puh" sound from her lips. "_these_ five...are mine!" She brandished five colorful sleeves, with a huge smile on her face, and deposited them on top of the case that Fiyero was carrying.

"W-Wait!" Fiyero called out as the sound of Galinda's clacking heels told him that, though he couldn't see her over the huge case, she was walking away. "Where are you going?"

"I'm gonna go pay for all this, silly." she replied, turning heel and bouncing off towards the front of the store.

"So, uh," Elphaba said, alone with Fiyero again. Thankfully the record player was in between them. "What do you want?"

"Is there anything by _The Falling Rocks_ in there?" he asked.

"Who?"

"The Falling Rocks," he repeated, grunting against the strain of carrying the huge record player. "Four or five guys from the Glikkus, they're very good."

"Here's one," she said, drawing out the sleeve with the name 'Aftermath' on the cover and stuffing it under the pit of her arm.

Better there than on top of the case for the record player. Oz knew Fiyero had too much in his hands as it is.

"How about _Iron Monster_?" he asked again.

"Here," she pulled out another sleeve, looking at the title on the cover. "'Dread of the Night'"

"Yeah, that one." he groaned. "And how about _Röwdy Gäng_?"

Elphaba made a strange noise, something between surprise and disgust, as she put the sleeve on top of Fiyero. The four young Winkie boys on the front of the cover were just too much for her.

"How many vinyls are we getting again?" Galinda shouted from the front of the store.

"Ten, I think." Fiyero returned. He then realized that there were still two unaccounted for.

"So," he asked the green girl, who was still somewhere nearby, he guessed. "What are you getting?"

"Whatever's good," was the vague reply.

* * *

><p>Later, the three were making their way from 'The Emerald Trader' and walking back towards Crage Hall.<p>

"Remind me, please," Fiyero said, still struggling with the heavy record player. "Why this is going in _your_ appartment?"

"Because _I_ bought it, silly!" exclaimed Galinda.

"Well, you better not play it too loudly," Elphaba returned. "Some of us have studying to do."

"Well, Elphie, there's always the library." the blond retorted.

"Right you are." the green girl said.

"Lemmie see what you have here," Galinda said, taking the large bag of vinyls off the top of the record player.

"Uh, maybe its just me," Fiyero groaned. "But since I'm doing all the heavy-lifting, I should probably have dibs on where it goes."

"There's a problem, though." Elphaba said.

"What?" he asked.

"Boys aren't allowed in Crage Hall." she stated.

"So?" Fiyero asked, trying to sound like his usual happy-go-lucky, though he was carrying something heavy. "Since when has Fiyero Tiggular let rules get in the way of fun?"

"Watch how loud you're saying that," Elphaba warned. "People might get ideas."

Fiyero chuckled, though it sounded more like a cough.

"Like what?"

A very loud exclamation of "eww!" came from Galinda.

"Who got 'Dread of the Night' by Iron Dragon?" she asked.

"That would be me." Fiyero answered.

"What?" she asked. "You mean you actually _like_ all that screaming, loud, party-boy rocker music?"

"Of course!" Fiyero exclaimed. "I've been listening to the Gäng and Iron Dragon since before I can remember..."

"Which probably spans just to last night." Elphaba exclaimed.

"Well, at least I picked some _good_ music." Galinda returned.

"Yeah," Fiyero chuckled. "I saw what kind of 'good' music you have. Fay-Gish, Goo Goo Mother, Lancely the Warbler, 4OnDaFloor and the Emerald City Dance Scholars."

"That _is_ good music, Fifi!" she returned.

"Just because something is popular," Elphaba returned. "Doesn't mean its good, you know."

A tiny scowl came across Galinda's face.

"And what does Miss Elphaba like?" she said, looking into the bag.

"Don't!" the green girl cried, reaching out to snatch the bag from Galinda's hand.

But the little blond scurried away from the green thing coming after her, and successfully pulled out a single vinyl.

"Never Silent?" she queried. "Who's that?"

"It's an all-Animal indie quartet," Fiyero explained. "from the Vinkus that nobody knows about."

"Their music is talented!" Elphaba returned. "It's more than just pop dance and party rock! Their lyrics have meaning, they sing about things that are current, important! It's not just about the sound or if you can shake your butt to it! It's good, skillful music! They're _real_ musicians."

"Why, because only three people know about them?" Galinda returned.

"There are more people who know about Never Silent than just the three of us!" Elphaba snapped.

"So, you only like indie music?" Fiyero queried.

"It's not whether the music is known or not!" she said. "That doesn't matter, as long as you like it...and-and as long as the musicians are skilled. You know, Never Silent was big _before_ electricity came to Oz!"

There was a moment of silence as all looked at Elphaba in almost shock.

"Oz, I didn't know you were so passionate about music!" Fiyero stated.

"It's nothing." she said, the spiny artichoke leaves coming back into defense mode.

"No, it can't be nothing, not if you're _that_ set on a band nobody kn..."

Galinda quieted, feeling a little ashamed that she was ripping on Elphaba for liking Never Silent.

The green girl sighed.

"I never got to listen to music when I was young." she returned. "Oh, well, you know, if father didn't like it, it wasn't in the house."

"What _do_ they listen to in Munchkinland?" queried Fiyero.

"Oh, you know." Elphaba returned. "The usual folk songs. You know, country-stuff."

They remained silent, waiting for Elphaba to continue.

"Well, my sister only likes the Unionist hymns," she continued. "And my father won't let anything else into the house except that. So I've been listening to whatever I could get on the side."

Silence still resounded between the two of them.

"Well," Fiyero said, breaking the silence. "As much as I sympathize with your terrible lack of musical experience, we have a real problem on our hands."

"What, dearest?" Galinda asked.

"We're here."

They were already outside Crage Hall. They had been talking so much that they did not notice that they had made it all the way there.

"How are we getting it inside the room?" Elphaba asked.

Suddenly, the fish-faced form of Madam Morrible appeared, walking down the paved sidewalk from Crage Hall.

"Ah, hello, dearies." she greeted them all as she approached them, coming to a halt before Elphaba first. "I'm afraid I haven't heard back from the Wizard yet, Miss Elphaba. But not to worry, he's a busy man. He has a country to run, of course it will take a while. Be patient, dearie. It is a virtue."

"Yes, Madam." Elphaba returned, nodding.

"And you, Master Tiggular," she said, turning to Fiyero. "Why are you here? You are aware that boys are not allowed in Crage Hall."

"Yeah, well, uh..."

"Madam Morrible, I just recently purchased this record player," Galinda said, pointing to the large case. "And I needed someone to carry it to my suite."

Madam Morrible nodded in recognition.

"Well," she said at length. "I don't see how you and your room-mate cannot simply take it up together by yourselves. I would send Grommetik to help you, but unfortunately, he's rather busy right now. A personal errand for me." She turned to Fiyero. "Master Fiyero, I believe your services are no longer requiradated, these young ladies can handle it."

The two girls held out their hands as Fiyero deposited the heavy case to them. Two pairs of knees buckled against the heavy record player as they took the weight upon themselves.

"Now, off with you." she said, waving Fiyero away.

Galinda turned to Fiyero's direction and made a kissing motion with her lips, since she could not blow him a kiss, being that her hands were busy. Fiyero walked backwards a bit, then made a dramatic catch for some invisible butterfly before he pressed his hand against his face.

Galinda giggled at his show.

"Toodles, Fifi!"

Madam Morrible made a sneezing noise, though Elphaba was sure she was saying something beneath her breath.

"Now, dearies." she said, turning to the two students. "Off with you. But before you go, a word..."

"Yes, Madam." Elphaba and Galinda said together.

"I trust that this new addition," Madam Morrible said, pointing to the case. "Will not result in loud parties in the middle of the night. It would be a shame for Miss Upland's new toy to be confiscated because of noise violations, would it?"

They both shook their heads.

"Well, good afternoon."

Madam Morrible glided away.

Galinda made a gagging noise.

"You know, I think fishy-face doesn't like me." she said.

"You think?" Elphaba muttered beneath her breath.

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><p><strong>(This is a little AU, since it happens before Galinda becomes Glinda, after the Lion-cub but before the train sequence. Don't worry, the structure of the original play story will remain, though slightly altered.)<strong>

**(I've had to create names for some of the bands listed. I do not own _The Rolling Stones_, _Iron Maiden_, _Mötley Crüe_, _Kanye West_, _Lady Gaga_ or _Britney Spears_. lol. Yes, those who those are supposed to be. The others are just made-up names I came up with for Ozian bands. Predictably, G[a]linda likes pop/dance [what else?] I thought Fiyero seemed more like a rocker than anything else. As for Elphaba, she's not really tied to any one genre in particular. She has varied tastes, because it didn't seem right, for me, to have her like pop music [the unpopular green girl conforming to the popular tastes in music?], and it would be a major alienation between other Elphie-fans if I made her like only rock or only metal, since I'm aware not everyone likes those genres [I'm not sure why, but I'm aware that some people don't]. So she's not bound to one genre in particular)**

**(The overall sound of _Never Silent_, I would say, is probably something like _Nirvana_ meets _Rise Against_, but with a keyboard [and sounding more unique]. The band members are a Chimpanzee guitarist, a Lion vocalist/keyboardist [who doesn't sound like Roy Mcllrath or Kurt Cobain. He was originally an opera singer before he was banned from public opera houses because...you know why], a Boar bassist and a Mouse drummer.)**

**(Leave your comments/questions/ideas/concerns in the review section. More coming up soon. Sorry if it seems short, but I have to ease into the whole 'band' story. Don't worry, things will pick up soon)**

**(As you may have noticed, there are elements from the book in this story. That is to flesh it out and give it more depth)  
><strong>


	3. Starting Out

**(AN: Long time no update. Well, my computer overheated and crashed, and I lost the better part of my work on this, so I'll try to fix what I can. Hopefully nothing too important has been lost)**

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><p><strong>Starting Out<strong>

Fiyero didn't often come to the library.

Those with scandalacious reputations to uphold didn't socialize with library-types.

Fiyero couldn't remember having ever stepped through the doors of a library in the past schools he had been to. No, he was thrown out of those schools for different reasons, that had nothing to do with the library.

But, to his genuine surprise, he found himself in the library.

Because it was one of the few co-ed places where he knew he could find her.

"Don't you ever stop studying?" he asked the woman with the dark blue skirt, white uniform blouse and her face hidden beneath a large book whose title was 'Animals in Oz: A History of the Sentient.'

The book was lowered just a little by its occupant, who stifled a gasp of surprise.

Though the way those brown eyes seemed to bulge, he knew he had surprised her.

"Shh!" she hushed him. "This is a library."

"Yeah, it's the first time I've ever been in one." he answered, in his voice-normal level.

"Well isn't that something?" she returned, raising the book over her face. "Now if you excuse me, some of us have studying to do."

"And some of us don't." he replied quickly, lowering the book so he could see the green face beneath.

"Be quiet!" Elphaba hissed. "You're not supposed to talk loudly in a library."

"Well can you blame me?" Fiyero replied, chuckling a little. "It's my first time here. You shouldn't expect me to know **_all_** the library rules inside and out."

"Everyone knows there's no talking in the library," she whispered.

"Well, then, can we go some place where talking _is_ allowed?" Fiyero asked, taking the book from her hands and returning it to the shelf.

Not where it was supposed to be.

Elphaba sighed in frustration, picking up her book-bag and leaving the library.

Fiyero was hot on her trail.

"Hey, I'm sorry!" he commented, once they were both outside the doors of the library. "I didn't mean to..."

"Go away, Prince Tiggular!" she snapped back at him. "Some of us have studying to do!"

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"The only place I can get some peace and quiet: Suicide Canal!" she shot back.

"But, wait!" he reached out and grabbed her hand. "I want to talk to you."

"What about?" she returned, coming to a halt as she felt his hand on hers.

For the second time in Fiyero's life, he found himself at a complete loss for words.

He was just trapped in the gaze of those brown eyes.

"Well, out with it!" she ordered, snapping him back into reality.

"I, uh..." he finally got out. "You know, I haven't really gotten a chance to see that record player Galinda bought."

"You can't," Elphaba returned. "Boys aren't allowed in Crage Hall."

"Since when has Fiyero Tiggular ever followed the rules?" he replied, his self-confident smirk creeping across his face.

Elphaba shook her head.

"Please, it won't be for long," Fiyero begged. He put on his best, cutest face: the kind that all the other girls would melt before and give in to whatever he asked of them.

Elphaba wasn't most other girls.

The green girl cast her eyes to the floor, so she wouldn't have to see his face, ridiculously close to her own.

For all of his pompous, rule-breaking behavior and his false bravado.

Elphaba had to admit, Fiyero looked good.

An overwhelming desire overcame her to reach out and touch his face.

Like she had that day with the Lion-cub.

Then it returned to her.

Fiyero was the cutest guy at Ozma Towers, who happened to have her room-mate as his girlfriend.

Galinda Upland, the hottest girl in Crage Hall.

They deserved each other.

"I'll see what I can do." she said at last, keeping her eyes away from Fiyero's face.

"Yes!" Fiyero exclaimed, punching the air with his fist in triumph.

"But don't expect this to be an every-day affair." she said as she walked on her way.

Fiyero wasn't listening.

He was too busy watching the green girl walk away.

And hitting himself over the head...

Mentally, that is.

_By Oz_, he thought, _I can't get her out of my head, but I fall all over myself every time we're alone together_.

_There I go again!_

It all came back to him, everything she had said.

It was true, after all.

His smile dissolved into a gloomy, morose pursing of the lips.

He couldn't wait to be in Crage Hall later today.

* * *

><p>Elphaba was pounding heavily upon the oaken door that led to her room.<p>

Well, the suite that she shared with Galinda.

"Open this door, Galinda!" she called out.

The heavy booming of a bass instrument drowned out her voice, making it seem small even in her own ears.

"I'm warning you, open up or I'll blow this door down myself!" she threatened.

The music from the other side even muffled the gasps and titters from Shenshen and Pfannee, who passed the green girl in the hallway behind her.

"I'm not joking!" Elphaba threatened, her finger pointed towards the sealed door. "Open this door right now or your Horse-mane hairbrush is history!"

The lowering of the volume of the music from behind the door meant only one thing.

Galinda heard that.

"How dare you..." she gasped, as she opened the door.

But Elphaba barged past her flabbergasted room-mate and plopped down unceremoniously upon the bed on her side of the room.

"Didn't Madam Morrible tell you to keep the music down?" Elphaba asked.

"Oh, fishy-face needs to lighten up a bit!" Galinda commented as she bounced back over to the record player. "Hey! I thought you were off studying or something at the library."

"I _was_," Elphaba returned. "Until Fiyero showed up. He wanted to..."

But before she could let anything out, Galinda turned the music back on and Elphaba's ears were assaulted by a provocative dance-tune from Lancely the Warbler.

"Would you turn that down?" she yelled.

"Why?" Galinda asked, bouncing up and down to the music, and flailing her arms about as if she were playing on an invisible drumkit.

Actually, Elphaba was impressed at how Galinda's "drumming" was in precise time to the beat of the song.

But it was still hideously loud.

She walked over and turned the music down.

"I looked up some of the bands you like," she commented, placing herself back on her bed.

"So?" Galinda queried.

"So," Elphaba began. "That Fay-Gish person thinks he's the best thing to happen to Oz since the Wizard, half of Oz thinks GooGoo Mother is a man, and have you even heard what they say about Lancely?"

"I don't listen to criticism!" Galinda returned. "Lancely is amazing! She's the best thing out of Quadling since the rubies!"

"I heard she wears copious amounts of make-up," Elphaba commented. "To hide the fact that she's red-skinned like every other Quadling."

"Of course she does," Galinda returned. "So what?"

"So?" a vein in Elphaba's throat twitched. "People shouldn't be ashamed of the color of their skin!"

Then a twinge of regret came back into her mind, as she recalled that she herself was ashamed of her own skin color...

So much that she had wished that the Wizard would degreenify her, once she had gained fame as his Grand Vizier.

_I guess we teach best what we need to learn for ourselves the most_, Elphaba thought.

"Well I don't care!" Galinda returned. "Lancely's music is good and she's got enough money and popularity to do whatever she wants to, so _Leave Lancely Alone!_"

Galinda's "outburst" was not all that motivated by anger, more of her usual silly behavior.

Elphaba sighed, rolling her eyes as she attempted to return to her book.

Just then, a tapping noise was heard at the window.

Galinda bounced over to the window and opened it up, then letting out a loud squeal.

"Elphie, look!" she commented, waving her green room-mate over to the window. "Fifi's outside!"

Sure enough, the brash Winkie prince was standing in the lawn before Crage Hall, a stone in his hand.

"He's insane," Elphaba commented. "He's going to get himself killed if he tries climbing up here."

After a running start, Fiyero climbed a tree and then lept onto the side of the building, making his way up the wall. Elphaba turned away, as Galinda let out her usual "_oohs_", "_ahhs_" at Fiyero's bravery, throwing her hands over her gasping mouth as he did something particularly daring.

Once he was up on their level, Galinda gave Fiyero a hand and helped him into their room.

"Are you brainless?" Elphaba asked.

"Completely." he returned.

"What if Madam Morrible catches you up here?" she hissed.

"I'll take all the responsibility," Fiyero responded. "She won't even know you helped me."

"You?" Galinda turned to Elphaba. "You knew he was coming up here?"

"No." Elphaba lied.

"Fibber!" she slapped Elphaba's shoulder. "You should have told me he was coming here."

"I wanted it to be a surprise," Fiyero stated.

This sent Galinda into a fit of giggles.

"So," the Winkie prince said as he looked about. "It's easy to see which of you has which side of the room."

"You think?" Elphaba replied dryly.

Fiyero walked over to the record player and listened intently as Galinda explained how it was operated.

_This_ has got to be a landmark day in Ozian history, Elphaba mused.

Galinda actually teaching someone how to do something.

Fiyero put one of his Falling Rocks records onto the player and began air-guitaring to the riffs of the song and playing to the solo.

"Wow," Elphaba commented. "Somebody's enjoying themselves."

"Huh, me?" Fiyero returned. "Oh, I've always wanted to be in a rock band, but never really got around to learning how to play the guitar. I wonder why."

"Maybe a little discipline you lack." the green girl returned.

"Discipline, my least favorite word." he commented. Galinda laughed at his wit.

"Well, maybe if you ever get 'around to it'," Elphaba said, making "quotation marks" in the air with her fingers. "You and Galinda can start your own band. She looks like a drummer."

"Well, surprise surprise!" commented Fiyero.

"Aw," Galinda blushed, hiding her face in a mess of criss-crossed fingers. "It's nothing."

"You should have seen her play along to Lancely." Elphaba commented, waving her hands about in imitation of Galinda's air-drumming.

"Really?" Fiyero remarked, his tell-tale grin creeping across his face.

"Well, Momsy and Popsicle always said I had tons of energy," she returned.

"Gee, I wonder why." Elphaba commented.

"But Fifi doesn't like my kind of music," Galinda faux-pouted, turning to Fiyero. "Do you, darling?"

"Not really." he said. "I mean, it's not really that special, just the same four beats over the same chords over and over."

"But it's danceable!" Galinda retorted, bouncing about and waving her arms about wildly.

Elphaba turned aside, trying not to look at the ridiculous sight that was her room-mate.

"Hey," Fiyero suddenly said, a look of surprise on his face. "Hey, I just had the best thought ever!"

Galinda came to a screeching halt.

"What did you just say?" she asked breathlessly.

"I have the best idea ever!" he returned.

"You mean you're _thinking_?" Galinda's mouth was gaping open widely.

"_This_ is new." Elphaba dryly stated.

"No, listen to this," Fiyero continued, not taking into account their shocked looks. "What if we started a band of our own? Huh?"

Galinda's mouth was still agape at the thought of Fiyero thinking.

Elphaba shook her head.

"Come on!" he argued. "We could pull it off. I might not be a guitarist, but I can play bass like none other. I mean it! There isn't another bassist better than me in all of Oz or I'm a scarecrow!"

"I don't like your rock music." Elphaba returned.

"Who says we have to play rock?" Fiyero replied. "I heard some of that Never Silent stuff once. It's actually rather good. We could do something like that, something that has meaning! Huh? Show the people of Oz what music is _really_ about: the emotion, the message, the power!"

"But none of you can sing." Elphaba stated.

"Elphie can!" Galinda said, pointing to her room-mate.

"No I can't," the green girl returned.

"You are such a big fibber, Elphie!" Galinda returned, playfully giving her room-mate a push into her 'drab' bed. "I'm your roomie! I've heard you sing in between crying every night or so."

"Galinda!" Elphaba cried, in shock.

"You cry in your sleep?" Fiyero asked.

"No!"

"Sometimes," Galinda returned. "But she's sometimes just singing to herself. I've been woken up from sleepy-sleep by her voice: it's amazing!" She gasped in awe at Elphaba's voice.

The green girl hid her face in her hands. It was turning an embarrassed shade of violet.

"Come on, you can't be that bad." Fiyero stated.

"But we can't do this," Elphaba returned, her natural color flushing back into her face.

"Why not?" Galinda pouted.

"Well, for one, we'll need a guitar. None of us know how to play guitar!"

"Don't worry, I'll handle it." Fiyero returned, holding up his hands. "I know someone who can play."

"But where will we play?" Elphaba asked. "We can't be smuggling you into Crage Hall every night for practice, and none of us want to be around those rowdy, drunken boys at Ozma Towers."

Silence filled the room, as they were all lost before Elphaba's statement.

"We'll find some place," Fiyero answered. "Surely there's got to be some empty class-room or building for rent in-town we can use to practice in." He turned to Elphaba, arms open. "But we still need a singer. What do you say?"

For as long as she could remember, Elphaba would never know why she did what she did next.

She jumped off her bed and threw herself into Fiyero's open arms.

Fiyero took a step back, his eyes open in shock.

Galinda, thinking it was a group hug, threw herself onto Fiyero's back.

"I guess that means yes." Fiyero stated.

* * *

><p><strong>(Horay! The action has begun! Yes, that's very quick for one of my stories. Usually my epic tales take forever before the story gets going. But this is an experiment in new territory.)<strong>

**(And I don't own Chris Crocker, nor do I want him to sue me for using his phrase. It was just for lols, no infringement intended!)**

**(Everything still in character? Any questions for what will happen next? Ideas? Comments? You know where to leave them. Stick around for more updates on this and other stories.)**


	4. The First Rehearsal

**(AN: Well, I hope the muse is having fun _not_ inspiring me! I've just been really empty, in regards to my literary works, and haven't got much out other than this. I keep telling myself that I need to just sit down and do some hard-core writing, but then my computer over-heats or something happens and I can't go on.)**

**(Fortunately, I got this chapter all together [and had the next one erased when my computer crashed due to over-heating!]. Thanks for all the feed-back. Let me remind you that no "real musicians" will appear in my story, as per the FF rules. The names I made were for references, and though fictional musicians may appear, I'd still debating [against] having any of those I mentioned before appear)**

**(Enjoy the new chapter. I do not own Holzman's lines, which I've borrowed/paraphrased for this work)**

* * *

><p><strong>The First Rehearsal<strong>

No one looked at the green girl as she pushed her sister's wheel-chair into History Class.

Or, as Elphaba referred to it when Dr. Nikadik was not around, Indoctrination 101.

She placed Nessarose at the far end of the bench, closest to the door, and then made her way to her seat.

Nasty whispers rose up from those about as she tried to make her way inconspicuously to the front row seat at the far end of the left-hand front bench. A wadded-up piece of paper was tossed her way, and she shot a knife-sharp glare at Pfannee and Shenshen.

In between them sat a Munchkinlander girl, who was obviously rather shorter than others of that 'type'. She was a full head shorter than the two taller (or larger, in the case of Pfannee) girls and had brownish-red hair, similar in shade to that of Nessarose, but long, curly and wavy, flowing down her head like a waterfall of blood.

She must have been the one who threw the missile, for she and the other girls were clutching their sides in their fits of giggling.

"Everyone, take your seats." Nikadik ordered as he entered the class room.

Elphaba did as she was instructed.

There was once again no sign of Fiyero.

He had been here last time, when they rescued the Lion Cub.

She couldn't stop thinking about that day.

More specifically, about Fiyero.

He was a silly rich-boy, Munchkinlander high-society was full of them. She had met her fair share before ever passing through the hallowed halls of Shiz. They were all the same: vain, shallow and fake.

Fake in that all their bravado and pretentiousness was just a cover.

A cover to hide how miserable they were inside.

Fiyero was no different.

No, she told herself. He was different.

None of them would have helped her save the poor Lion cub.

Fiyero did.

That very brief moment, when their hands collided with each other, made Elphaba's vision blurry as she thought of it. Something had awoken within her, born that very moment when their hands parted, that was forever gnawing inside her every time she saw Fiyero.

It increased her desire to be close to him, to touch his hand just yet again.

Elphaba hated the feeling, for it made concentrating on her studies extremely difficult.

And yet, she did not hate it so much that she wished it to go away.

It was troublesome, but she entertained it nonetheless.

Even though it was horribly wrong for her to think such things, she told herself.

He was Galinda's boyfriend.

She would not be doing that.

"Ah, yes." Dr. Nikadik's low, orator's voice noted the latest addition to the class, who was just walked in the door.

"Miss Galinda Upland, I presume?" he asked.

"Yes, thank you." the little blond said, smiling as she curtsied. "The last professor couldn't say my name right, it was so horrendible."

"Yes, I see." Nikadik continued. "As I recall, you were not present the last time this class met. Do you have an excuse?"

"Yes, Doctor." she stated. "You see, I was at a big party the night before and stayed up all night giving my girlf...uh, I mean, my room-mate a make-over."

"You stayed up too late, I take it." Nikadik finished, nodding in recognition.

"But I needed my sleep!" Galinda said, placing a hand over her heart. "You wouldn't want me to be sleeping in your class, would you?"

"No, Miss Upland, I would prefer you show up to my class on time every time it meets!" he snapped. "But if you choose rather to waste your time and my own by not showing up to class, that is your fault, not mine, and I suggest you drop the course. Now take your seat."

Galinda made a frown and walked over to where she usually sat.

One quick glance revealed that her 'friends' had already replaced her.

Befriending the green pariah, apparently, was too much for these vapid little biddies.

Galinda walked down the row of benches, her head hung down in defeat.

A green hand reached out and tugged on her sleeve, showing up sharply on the white material.

"Psst!" whispered Elphaba. "Sit here."

Another hand pointed to the space next to Elphaba.

The space that the other students wouldn't dare take, because it was too close to the 'green-freak.'

Galinda nodded and took her seat.

"Now, class," Nikadik began. "Let us begin today's lecture with a little history on the Animal problem..."

"Psst!" Galinda whispered.

Elphaba turned to her room-mate.

She was not surprised to see Galinda writing a note on her pink stationery.

That was not the paper Galinda Upland used for taking notes in class.

Not like she ever took notes in class.

Elphaba couldn't comment either.

She had stopped taking notes when she realized that all Dr. Nikadik was teaching was why Animals belonged in the fields rather than in society.

It was morally wrong, what this teacher was doing. Animals were just as capable as any of Oz's human population, and to degrade them based solely because they looked different was a horrible deed.

It was hypocrisy, for no one questioned the skin color of another Ozian human, whether male or female.

But it was more of a class-thing, she noticed. The poorer, rural Munchkins were considered beneath the upper-class Munchkinlanders, from whence she herself was raised.

The little blond had finished her note, folded it up and handed it to her room-mate.

Green fingers took the paper from her and unfolded the note.

"_Lakely and Oakes, after class today_" was all that it said.

* * *

><p>Class was over for the day, and Madam Morrible took Nessarose to her office.<p>

Elphaba was free, more or less, to do as she pleased.

Normally, today would be filled with studying and re-reading.

Now, she was walking down the streets of the town of Shiz, towards the place listed on the note.

Galinda did not bounce after her, she was lagging at her side, her heels clip-clopping on the pavement as they walked.

"I can't believe you're so quiet today." Elphaba stated.

"What do you mean?" the blond asked, looking away from what she had been staring at the past few hours.

"You're not your usual self." Elphaba commented. "What's wrong?"

Galinda shook her head, dismissing her room-mate's offer.

"Fine, then." Elphaba answered, turning back to look at the signs on the shops.

Hoping they didn't pass it already.

Those who passed them by were shocked at the very odd sight.

Whether it was because of the young woman with green skin, or her beautiful blond companion at her side, or the fact that two such unlikely characters walked together as friends, none of them dared voice anything regarding why they stared.

They just did.

A few work-men, who were repairing a road to their right sent out wolf-whistles at Galinda as she passed by.

The blond bit her lower lip, lowering her head.

Elphaba, meanwhile, took the apple she had been munching upon and tossed it towards the workers. It hit the fat one directly in the face.

"What a waste of a perfectly good apple." Elphaba muttered to herself.

But she could throw things very well, if agitated.

As she walked on her way, she saw Galinda's face was still down-cast.

"Don't listen to those jerks," she said to the little blond. "Okay? They're just perverted slobs."

"It's not them." Galinda replied.

Elphaba could have sworn she heard her room-mate's voice breaking in sadness.

"Then what's wrong?" she asked.

Galinda sighed, then swallowed the lump of sadness in her throat down.

"It's Fiyero." she admitted.

Elphaba noticed she did not use her pet-name for Fiyero.

"He's oh so distant!" Galinda began. "Whenever we're together, I have this naggafying feeling that he doesn't want to be with me."

"Has he told you that?" Elphaba asked. Her own throat constricted at the thought. If Fiyero hurt Galinda, rearranging his cute face wasn't beneath what she would do to him.

"No," Galinda admitted, shaking her curly, blond head. "But I can tell. Whenever we're together, he tries to act like he's interested in what I have to say, but I can tell he's not."

"Oh," Elphaba stated. "Is that what's bothering you?"

"Mhm," Galinda nodded. "And more. Ever since he told us that he was thinking, I've been really worried about him!"

"Galinda, that was two days ago." Elphaba pragmatically stated.

"It feels like four days ago!" Galinda pouted, though not in jest as she was wont to do in times before. "And he's acting moodified and everything, and nothing I can say will cheer him up! It's like I don't even know who he is anymore!"

"Galinda, you're over-reacting." Elphaba said, coming to a halt before her sorrowful friend, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You and Fiyero are perfect for each other."

Galinda sniffed back a tear.

"You think so?" she returned.

"Yes." she answered.

No, screamed a thought inside her head.

"He's probably just preoccupied with this whole band thing," Elphaba continued. "You'll see, everything will work out just fine."

"Promise?" Galinda asked.

Elphaba nodded, the thought inside her head forcing her from saying the words 'I promise.'

"Pinky promise?" Galinda held up the pinky of her right hand.

Elphaba scoffed. "Galinda, please..."

"You've got to pinky promise, Elphie!" the little blond insisted.

Elphaba rolled her eyes, then wrapped her green little finger around the little pink one from Galinda's hand.

The little blond pulled Elphaba's green pinky into a tight squeeze and made a noise that sounded like a squeal, but muffled, and shook her head about happily.

"What was that?" Elphaba asked, at Galinda's strange display.

"That was an outside squeal!" Galinda replied, waving her fingers about majestically.

"Excuse me?" Elphaba asked as they continued on their way.

"An outside squeal!" Galinda returned. "When I was a little girl, Momsy and Popsicle always told me to use my inside voice around company and my outside voice when I was in my room. I didn't really care, because I love having fun, and outside voice is the **_bestest_** voice to use when having fun!"

"So I see." Elphaba replied, shaking her head.

"So, obviously," Galinda replied knowingly. "An outside squeal is one that is appropriate for public places."

"Could have just told me that and spared me the history lesson." Elphaba stated dryly.

"I thought you _loved_ history class!" Galinda stated.

"Not since Dr. Nikadik started teaching," Elphaba retorted. "It should be called Indoctrination 101 now. Didn't you hear what..."

"Oh, wait!" Galinda squealed, coming to a stop. Seeing that Elphaba continued on, she reached back and pulled her green roomie over to her, punctuating each step Elphaba made backwards with a 'puh' sound, as per her usual idiom.

"What?" Elphaba asked.

"Here it is!" she waved her hands before the building in front of which they now stood.

Lakely and Oakes.

It looked like no one had used it in a century or more.

If there were any weeds in the city, they would surely be choking the life out of this poor building.

A window was broken, the paint was falling off the walls, the sign looked rusty and forsaken.

"Oh, tell me this isn't the place." Galinda whined, her mood changing at the realization of the exterior.

"Nope, this is it." Elphaba returned plainly, taking one last look at the sign to make sure it was the right place.

Galinda held out her hand, as if afraid of what they were going to find inside this run-down place.

Elphaba gave the blond her own hand, which Galinda squeezed tightly.

They walked up the creaky stairs onto the landing, then Elphaba seized the tarnished brass door-knob, gave it a turn, and opened the door. Hand in hand, they walked into the darkness inside.

* * *

><p>It wasn't all that dark, really. It just seemed dark from the streets.<p>

Some of the cluttered rubbish that lay inside the building had been pushed aside, revealing what had probably once been a store of some kind. It was long-since abandoned, and anything of value had been either sold off or looted.

It was very empty, and very spacious.

At the back of the empty store, the rear-exit was open. Set up near the exit was a drum-kit and a few shoe-box amplifiers.

And one person sat there by himself, upon one of the largest amps, cradling a long-necked bass guitar in his hands.

"Fifi!" Galinda squealed in excitement, letting go of Elphaba's hand and running towards her boyfriend.

Fiyero put the huge instrument on its amp, lying flat upon the top, rose up and lifted the little Galinda into a very large hug.

Elphaba could tell, however, that his eyes weren't looking at the object of his affection.

It almost seemed artificial, the hug.

"Whoa, steady on!" Fiyero commented, breaking the embrace. "I only told you we were meeting here this morning."

"But I had to wait **_all_** day just to see you again!" Galinda returned.

Fiyero sighed.

"What exactly have you been doing, besides skipping class?" Elphaba asked from where she stood.

"Oh, it's not the first time I've done it." Fiyero dismissed.

"And if you keep it up, it will be the last at _this_ school." Elphaba stated. "You know, Shiz is one of the finer schools in Gilikin, so they say."

"Well, I went around town, pulled a few strings and got us this place." Fiyero responded. "It's an abandoned department store. I guess they went out of business during the reign of one of the Ozmas, or something, but nobody's used it since."

"It's a dump, Fifi!" Galinda commented, looking around, her mouth agape as usual.

"Yeah, but it didn't cost much." Fiyero returned. "Not that money's an issue with me, but I did have to spend the rest of this month's allowance to get us some equipment."

"You have an allowance?" Elphaba queried in disbelief.

"When I'm a good-boy, I do." returned Fiyero.

"Gee, I wonder how long its been since _that_ was truth." Elphaba commented.

"Ha ha, very funny." Fiyero returned. "Keep that up and I'll think about taking your PA system back to the Emerald Trader."

Elphaba didn't respond.

Fiyero didn't have to buy them all equipment.

"Galinda," Fiyero said to the little blond, suddenly placing one hand over her eyes and turning her around with the other. A dramatic wave and his hand was gone.

"This is for you."

Elphaba was amazed.

There was a full drum-kit, new and everything, just waiting there.

"Oh, it's so bouncy!" Galinda commented as she tapped the hi-hat, letting the two cymbals bounce upon each other. "Can I paint it pink?"

"Uh, sure." Fiyero returned, his attention towards the green-girl now. "Whatever you like."

A squeal came from the blond as she sat herself upon the drummer's seat.

"What do you think?" Fiyero asked, raising his hands out before Elphaba.

"It looks...workable," she replied. "Thanks for buying this stuff, by the way. You really didn't have to."

"Please, it was my pleasure." he returned.

"So," she said, looking at the cob-webbed ceiling. "Did you find a guitarist?"

"As a matter of fact, yeah," Fiyero returned, waving his hands about as he spoke. "He's outside practicing."

"Is he any good?" Elphaba asked.

"Let me show you," he suggested. Fiyero then walked over to the rear-exit door.

"Come on in, we're ready for you!" he called out.

Galinda turned from the drums to see who Fiyero had called out to from the outside.

Elphaba also turned her head towards the door, eager to meet the potential fourth member of their band.

None of them would have expected who they saw walking into the room.

Tall and broad-shouldered he was, wearing the blue school uniform of a Shiz University student. A black guitar with a round body and two horns at the end of the upper body hung from his shoulders via a leather strap.

They recognized the mess of blond hair, though, and the steel blue eyes that scanned the two girls as they saw him enter the room.

"Oh, it's you." Avaric said, his smile fading at the corners as he saw the green girl standing there.

He turned to Fiyero.

"Is this some kind of joke, Tiggular?" he asked.

"No, these are the other people I told you about." Fiyero returned, indicating to the two ladies.

"You said you had people who knew how to play, not your girlfriend and the green freak!" Avaric returned.

"Hey, Tenmeadows!" Elphaba returned. "I'm right here, I can hear what you're saying!"

"Do I look like I care, froggy?" Avaric shot back. He then returned to Fiyero. "I'm not gonna be in your band if the green bean is gonna be in it also."

"Well I don't care much for being in a band with _you_!" Elphaba stated, joining the trio in their argument.

"Butt out, cabbage!"

"Hey, just a minute!" Fiyero said, putting himself between Avaric and Elphaba, just as the green girl was about to lunge at him, her hands balled up into fists.

"Elphaba, will you calm down!" he insisted.

"Just tell Avaric to shut his mouth or I'll shut it for him!" she returned.

"Why?" Tenmeadows mocked. "Does what I say hurt your little green feelings?"

Elphaba spat in Avaric's taunting face.

He extricated himself from the guitar and was about to get crazy on the green girl, but Fiyero pushed him back against the wall.

"Just chill out, Avaric!" he shouted.

"She started it!" he retorted, pointing at Elphaba.

"How?"

"By being green!" Avaric let out a proud smile in between his smug laughter.

"I don't like your attitude!" Elphaba shot back.

"Sue me!"

"Hey!" Fiyero almost shouted.

Even Galinda perked her ears up at this.

"Elphaba, give him a chance." Fiyero vouched. "He's a little rough around the edges, but he's a great guitarist."

"The best." Avaric complemented himself.

"Of course **_you_** think so." Elphaba said to Tenmeadows.

"Oh yeah?" Avaric brushed Fiyero off him then walked over to his guitar, picking it up and throwing the strap over his shoulder. He then walked over to one of the amplifiers and plugged the guitar into the speaker.

He turned around, played a simple 'G-F-G' chord riff, then pulled off from 'B flat' to 'G' twice before returning to 'F', then going back to the top.

Fiyero smiled, rocking his head back and forth slightly to the sound of the riff.

Avaric then slid his left hand all the way up the fretboard of his guitar, then slid back and played an 'A' chord twice, strumed twice upon strings muted with his right hand, then played 'D, C sharp and C' in quick succession, and two more muted strums before finishing with a quick 'C-D'.

Fiyero slashed his hand across his neck and Avaric muted the pick-ups of his guitar with his strumming hand, his right.

"Pretty cool, huh?" Fiyero asked, turning to the others.

"But can he solo?" Elphaba asked. "Leoma from Never Silent can play for hours."

"That monkey?" Avaric mocked. "Please! She has nothing on me."

"Show me." the green woman returned.

Avaric's left hand flew down past the twin-dotted twelfth fret and began shredding away. To those who looked on, his right hand looked like a spider, the strings of his guitar were the web and his fingers were the many legs of the spider, dancing upon the strings as if it were nothing.

With a quick motion, his hand flew up to the fifth fret and played a quick scale, then shot back down past twelfth and continued wailing away. To their amazement, his left hand kept on playing, rising up the neck and decreasing in pitch, while the right hand was no longer picking the string.

Suddenly, the middle finger of his right hand flew up onto the fret-board and began tapping the string while his left hand continued to dance away. The left hand began sweeping up the strings, with the fingers of the right hand keeping up with tapping each one briefly.

"Show-off." Elphaba muttered beneath her breath.

Fiyero waved at Avaric, and he finished with a clean slide to the twelfth fret, held the note for a second, then muted the strings with his right palm and looked up.

"Do you wanna start jamming?" Fiyero asked.

"Tsh! Hell no." Avaric replied.

"Why not?" Galinda asked. "That was really good!"

"D'you hear that?" Fiyero added. "She thinks you're good and she doesn't even like rock! Come on, let's play together."

"What, do you wanna gauge my skill?" Tenmeadows queried. "I know I'm better than all three of you put together. Just do your thing, I think I can come down to your level if you need me to."

"Avaric, get off your high horse and let's jam!" Fiyero insisted.

"I'll be out back, practicing. Just tell me when you need a guitar piece and I'll make one for you." Avaric returned. He walked over to the amplifier, unplugged the guitar, then unplugged the amp from the wall and took the amp, his guitar and himself out the back-door.

"What's his problem?" Galinda asked.

"He's a little over-confident." Fiyero returned. "He is the best guitarist at Shiz, that much is true."

"There is absolutely no way I'm being in a band with that jerk!" Elphaba said, walking over to Fiyero. "Never Silent is about cooperation and tolerance...and-and appreciating people for what they can do, not because of the color of their skin."

"Who says we have to sound like that crappy old band?" Galinda giggled aloud. Elphaba merely rolled her eyes and let Galinda return to her drum-kit.

"Fiyero, there's got to be someone else, someone more behaved," Elphaba continued her protest.

"I went to every guy in Ozma Towers, Fae." Fiyero returned. "No one's as good as him."

"Wh-What did you just call me?" Elphaba asked, taking a step back.

"Fae," he returned. "I think it sounds cute. That shoud be your stage name. Green Fae."

She gasped.

"Do you have any idea how tactless you just made yourself?" Elphaba gasped.

"What?" Fiyero asked.

"I don't want to be known by my skin color!" she snapped back.

"Okay, okay! Forget I said anything!"

"Oz, you can be so brainless at times!" Elphaba commented.

"Well, it _is_ me, you know." Fiyero returned. "And besides, Elphaba is a little bit long for people to pronounce. They need something shorter, something that has a snap to it, for the head...girl of our band."

"What's wrong with Elphie?" Galinda asked, just as she was about to pick up the drum-sticks.

"It's too..." Fiyero's small, empty mind struggled looking for the word to describe how he felt about Galinda's pen-name for Elphaba.

"Perky, peppy, girlish," Elphaba stated.

"It pops too much," Fiyero returned. "We need something subtle, something that's not exactly like your real name but close enough."

"Fabala!" Galinda suggested.

"That sounds like a baby name." Elphaba returned. "And don't call me Faba either! That's even more child-ish."

"So what **_about_** Fae?" Fiyero asked. "It's short, subtle, and is close enough to your name to be real without being too obvious."

Elphaba threw her hands behind her back, twiddling her fingers and turned her head down to look at her boots. A moment of awkward silence followed, in which Galinda noticed that Fiyero wouldn't stop looking at everything else in the room...

Except for her.

"What about the rest of you?" Elphaba returned.

"Well, Avaric can be 'Av'," Fiyero stated. "I thought 'Yero' would work good for me."

"Wait!"

They all turned to Galinda, who had been ignored through all this conversation ever since she suggested 'Fabala.'

"Since we're all giving each other stage names," Galinda said. "I have one for me!"

"You do?" Fiyero asked.

"Why yes!" Galinda commented. "With the unfortunate departure of Doctor Dillamond, who has his own way of pronouncing my name, in solidarity, in solemn memory and to express my **_outrage_**, I shall go by the stage name of Glinda!"

There was a moment of silence between the three of them as Galinda waved her hands in the air dramatically, making "spirit-fingers" as she did.

Elphaba and Fiyero exchanged quizzical glances at each other.

Where did _this_ come from?

"Uh..." Fiyero said, not really anything on his mind.

Elphaba turned to look at him with those brown eyes that he loved seeing.

But now they were bent towards him.

He turned away.

"Yeah!" he said a little abruptly. "That's...that's a very noble idea...uh, Glinda."

"Oh, Fiyero." Galinda returned, blushing slightly and lowering her head, as if accepting his thanks.

"Okay, let's start jamming." Fiyero said, walking back over to his bass guitar. "We'll need every minute of practice we can get."

"Maybe _you_ do," Elphaba returned, following him. "But some of us have studying to do."

"Don't worry about that," Fiyero returned. "We'll figure something out." He then turned over to Galinda, who looked a little bummed out, standing all alone by herself at the drums.

"Can you give us a beat?" he asked.

She nodded, and plopped herself into the seat.

"Can we get a count-off?" Fiyero requested, not even turning to look at the drummer.

"One..." Galinda counted, clanging the drum-sticks together as she counted. "Two...One, two, three, four..."

Fiyero started off with a smooth bass-line, using his fingers rather than a stylus to pick the huge, double-wound or even quadruple-wound bass-strings. Behind them, Galinda beat a sound, in-time beat on the hi-hat, with an occasional stomp of her shoe on the bass pedal.

"Can we get some snare?" Fiyero asked, his eyes closed as he continued slapping away on the bass.

The metallic 'thwamp' of the snare kicked in every fifth beat, as Galinda's beat was eights rather than fourths.

A smile came to Fiyero's face as he kept his right hand plucking the bass-strings.

"Sing us something, Elphaba?" Fiyero asked, turning to the green girl.

"What do you want me to sing?" she said, a little loudly so it could carry over the beat and Fiyero's booming bass.

"I don't know, whatever." Fiyero returned.

Elphaba walked over to the lone microphone stand, raised and already plugged into the amplifier.

Shyly, she breathed upon the mic, hearing the low breath coming from the PA.

She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and began to vocalize into the microphone.

Her voice slowly rose from barely a whisper to a voice-normal level, as she sang the vocalization scale over and over, rising slowly and steadily, her voice not breaking or cracking.

Elphaba did not even realize that the others had stopped playing.

She was now belting out her vocalization loudly, her hands over chest, feeling the vibration caused by her singing.

It was then that she noticed the drums and bass had stopped.

Her voice faded, and she threw a hand over her dark-green lips, turning back to the others.

Fiyero and Galinda looked on in amazement at their green singer.

Standing in the entrance of the back-door exit was another who was captivated by her singing.

"Guess the artichoke isn't a complete waste."

That was probably the closest thing Avaric Tenmeadows had come to complementing Elphaba Thropp since...ever.

* * *

><p><strong>(Surprise surprise! Avaric is the guitarist! Yes, I know, sparks will fly. That is the intention. He is the a-hole guitarist, like Dave Mustaine or Tony Iommi: the riffs he played are a variation of "Mob Rules" and "Sweet Leaf", and the solo is just random shredding.)<strong>

**(Yes, I promised they wouldn't do hard rock/metal, and I keep to that promise...[wink wink. lol, just kidding. I don't break promises, this band will not be a hard rock/metal band, that I do promise you])**

**(Thanks for all the reviews once again, people. I have specifically refrained from stating what color skin Fiyero has to prevent his position as bassist be by reason of "stereotype." He plays bass because bass isn't that hard to play, and since he hasn't the discipline to learn to play guitar, that seemed like the only other option. You can imagine him with whatever skin color you like, but know that I did not make him bassist because of his skin color, but because it fit with his irresponsible behavior.)**

**(Just keep reading, the next chapter will have some more interesting stuff [like a keyboardist]. Hopefully the muse will return to me by then. lol)**


	5. Keys and Pleas

**(AN: Okay, here's where I can honestly say that this story has taken some influence from an outside source. I won't divulge too much about what is to come, but what I can say is that you will definitely be surprised at what you will see...you might just enjoy it too)**

**(Let me re-state that I probably won't have the Oz-ified musicians in my story, since FF rules say no non-fictional characters. I'll think of something)**

**(Now, enjoy)**

* * *

><p><strong>Keys and Pleas<strong>

Afternoon at Shiz University.

Usually, the dinner meal was eaten in the Main Hall, with all of the students more or less together.

As for the lunch-meal, it was eaten outside, wherever the students desired as long as it was not disrupting the class-rooms or the professors.

On the lawn by Suicide Canal, a group of very unlikely friends sat together, eating their lunches in relative peace. Galinda had her arm locked around Fiyero's, who was staring out pensively at the canal. Sitting a little apart was Elphaba, and behind these three Nessarose sat in her wheel-chair, assisted by Boq.

Every so often, Boq would wave sheepishly at Galinda's direction.

The blond was busy trying to pretend that he did not exist.

"Elphie," Galinda queried, as she turned to her room-mate's sandwich. "Why don't you eat meat?"

It was true, Elphaba's lunch did not consist of any meat products.

"I used to," the green woman said, after swallowing a piece of her sandwich down. "But then I discovered that certain butchers have been using meat from Animals in their cuts."

Galinda and Fiyero said nothing to this, but Elphaba did not push the matter.

It wasn't that big of a deal to them, apparently.

"D'you know what we need, Elphaba?" Fiyero asked, his mouth full of the sandwich he was currently chewing.

"I don't know," she returned, a repulsed look on her face. "But I know YOU need to close your mouth when you chew. You may not care about being rude, but some of us don't want to be rained upon by your half-eaten sandwich."

Fiyero swallowed before speaking again.

"We need a piano, for our band." he suggested.

Elphaba scoffed. "They're huge, Fiyero. How would we carry one to practice? And what's more, who's going to play it?"

"Well, you see," Fiyero began, placing his sandwich down. "When I went to the Emerald Trader to pick up our gear, I saw this new-fangled invention from the Emerald City in the shop-window. The clerk called it a 'keyboard', I think. Anyway, she said it could play like a piano as well as duplicate the sound of an entire orchestra."

Galinda 'ooh'd' at this, though not out of great enthusiasm.

Just trying to sound interested in Fiyero's current topic.

"It's smaller than a piano," Fiyero said, motioning with his hands to indicate size comparison. "But still has all the black and white keys of a regular piano on it. I think it would go great for our band: all we need is someone who knows how to play piano: after all, it shouldn't be THAT much different, should it?"

Elphaba shrugged.

On Fiyero's other side, she noticed, Galinda looked out listfully across Suicide Canal.

The prince suddenly got up and walked away, leaving the two friends some time alone.

"Galinda," Elphaba said to her friend. "What's wrong?"

"Why do you think something's wrong?" Galinda returned.

"Well, you just don't seem your normal self today." Elphaba commented.

"I really thought it was going to work." Galinda pouted aloud.

"What was?"

"My stage-name," she returned. "I know that I said Fiyero's been acting strangely lately, but it didn't start when he said he's been thinking."

"Oh?"

"He's been like that ever since that horrendible old Goat was fired," the blond stated. "I thought he'd care if I made my stage-name something that would remind him of Dr. Dillamond, but I guess I was wrong."

Elphaba placed a warm arm around Galinda's shoulder.

It was the least she could do.

Inside, however, she was screaming to just shout the obvious.

He's not interested in you anymore, Galinda!

But she did not even dare hope that he was interested in...

"Uh-oh." she said, turning around.

Fiyero was talking to Nessarose, and it seemed that the invalid sister was horribly offended.

"Here comes trouble." Elphaba muttered, rising to her feet and walking over to where Nessa, Fiyero and Boq stood.

Well, where they stood around Nessarose, seated in her wheel-chair.

"Elphaba!" the invalid said, her voice very offended. "Is it true that you and this boy are in some..._music band_ together?"

Elphaba merely nodded.

"How dare you!" the sister angrily rebuked. "Father will hear about this-this..._wickedness!_"

Elphaba cast a furtive glare at Fiyero.

"What?" he asked. "All I did was ask if she could play the piano and wanted to be in our band."

"Well I don't!" Nessarose snapped. "I've heard the kind of music Elphaba listens to: vile, dissolute, anarchist! I'll have no part in this." She began wheeling herself away. Then turned a sharp glare to her left. "Boq, follow!"

The Munchkin-lad stood as if torn between two choices.

Nessarose's glance, however, seemed to shock him over to her side.

"Mark my words," she barked at her sister. "No good will come of this!"

She wheeled herself away from the three friends, Boq following helplessly on behind.

* * *

><p>Fiyero had a free period.<p>

Or maybe he just decided not to attend class and _gave_ himself a free period.

He was known for doing such.

Right now he walked by himself upon the lawn around the classrooms of Shiz.

Thinking.

That day when he helped Elphaba rescue the Lion-cub.

It never really occurred to him that someone could possibly see through all of his behavior and mannerisms to what was inside.

It was true, really.

A rich family had no time to waste on children, and so they left young Fiyero in the care of many nannies and governesses.

He made their lives hell for it.

That was probably where he got his knack for mischief.

People saw him when he acted out, when he broke all the rules.

They noticed him.

Elphaba was actually repulsed by this behavior.

But it was still so amazing that she could see inside him more clearly than his parents ever bothered to.

Than Galinda could.

That was the major difference between the two of them. Galinda loved everything she could see about Fiyero: his mannerisms, his handsomeness, his sharp wit, his popularity.

But she had no real care for what was inside him, what he thought about. She never gave a thought to what he could be feeling or even _thinking_, and instead focused on all the outward things.

It started to get annoying, really.

He had spent his whole life with people flocking to him, ogling over how handsome he was, or how rule-breaking he was.

Fiyero was used to it.

And he was bored of it as well.

Because when everybody sobered up and he moved on to another school, he could still feel the bite of emptiness.

Of loneliness.

But it was different with Elphaba.

She could see his feelings. He was open to her.

Part of him, the vain, silly part that told him every time he began to feel empty that he just needed to fill his life with more fun...

That part wished that she was not green.

Maybe then...just maybe...

A gaggle of giggling woke him out of his thoughts.

Shenshen, Pfannee and their friend Milla just walked past him.

"Excuse me, girls?" he asked, sullying forth his courage and walking towards them.

They giggled again.

"Yes, Prince Tiggular?" they asked, as if in unison.

"Um," he thought for a minute. "Do any of you know how to play piano?"

The two girls shook their heads, with eyes gaping towards the handsome prince.

"I do." little red-haired Milla pipped.

"Great!" Fiyero exclaimed. "Hey, if you're interested, would you, perhaps, be willing to come to _Lakely and Oakes_ with us and show us what you got?"

"But I don't have a piano." Milla answered.

"Don't worry, that can be fixed."

Milla shrugged. "I guess it couldn't hurt to try out."

"Actually, dearie, it _could_." Pfannee stated.

"What do you mean?"

"We heard on the grape-vine," Shenshen said to Fiyero. "that you're in some kind of band with Avaric Tenmeadows and Galinda Upland."

"Yeah, that's true." Fiyero answered.

"Well, Milla," Pfannee said, turning to the auburn-haired girl. "I wouldn't go hanging out with the likes of Upland if I were you. She befriends all sorts of riff-raff."

"Oh, too true!" giggled Shenshen.

"You're calling _me_ riff-raff?" Fiyero asked.

"Oh, no! Never!" the two girls almost chanted as one.

_Bowing and scraping wouldn't be far from what these two are doing_, Fiyero thought.

_There I go again!_

"No, you're too cool for school!" Pfannee stated.

Shenshen giggled at her friend's wit.

"Cliche," Fiyero said beneath his breath.

"But, your girlfriend," the larger of the two girls said, pointing to Fiyero. "She's got something wrong in that empty head of hers."

"What do you mean?" Fiyero asked.

"Um, hello? Befriending the cabbage? That's like _so_ not the way to be popular!"

"You said it, Shenshen!"

The two started giggling, while Milla just sat there looking very confused.

"So remember, Milla," Pfannee said, turning to the confused-looking Munchkinlander. "It's either us or Upland."

"Toodles!" Shenshen added, waving at her 'friend.'

Victim, more like.

The two walked off, giggling as usual.

"Ah, don't pay attention to what they say," Fiyero said. "I never listen to criticism. If I did, I wouldn't have such a swankified reputation."

Milla laughed, though there was something forced about the way in which she smiled as she did.

"So, what do you think?" he concluded, returning to his offer.

"Um," Milla mused, biting her bottom lip as she looked after the two friends of hers.

"I gotta go."

She ran off after them.

Fiyero sighed.

_People can be so empty-headed sometimes_.

_Why am I still thinking?_

* * *

><p>That afternoon on the way to <em>Lakely and Oakes<em>...

"Fiyero!" Galinda sang out as she saw her boy-friend just up the street.

Oh no, he sighed, hearing that voice. She still hasn't gotten over me yet.

A petite hand seized Fiyero's arm and pulled him over to where she and Elphaba had been walking.

"You know, we still haven't decided on a name for our band yet, Fifi." she said.

"Fifi?" Elphaba asked, trying hard not to laugh.

"That's my pet-name for him, don't you remember?"

"I'd prefer 'Yero'." the prince replied.

"But it's so..." Galinda made a face. "Adult-ish. We're still young, we're practically _kids_ for Oz's sake! Fifi's much more peppy! It pops and snaps!"

"Don't tell me it sparkles too." Elphaba sighed.

"Or worse," Fiyero returned. "Does a little song and dance too. Something like..."

"_I am brainless_

_No thoughts in my head_

_Can't say I've read that book_"

Galinda giggled.

Elphaba turned back to the prince.

"Did you just make that up on the spot?" she asked.

"Yeah." he returned. "Just because I'm brainless doesn't mean I can't put two words together and make a rhyme."

"Well, maybe you should leave the writing to me." Elphaba said. "I could make some profound, insightful lyrics."

"Of course, you can do all the thinking for us." Fiyero stated.

"Hey! This isn't _my_ band, I'll have you know." the green woman stated, pointing one of her thin, spindly fingers in his direction. "If I remember correctly, you were begging me to join."

"And you did!" Fiyero returned.

"So then this is Fifi's band?" Galinda asked, not really sure what was going on here.

"No, this belongs to _all_ of us!" he exclaimed. "It should be a group effort."

"Yeah, you tell that to Tenmeadows." Elphaba said on the side.

"E-Excuse me?"

The three Ozians turned to see who was speaking to them.

For a school-day afternoon, the streets were rather deserted. There were people about, but they were so far away and so deeply buried in what they were doing that they could not have been the speaker.

For one, the speaker spoke as if he were close by them.

"I say, excuse me?" the voice asked again.

Elphaba was the first to notice who it was.

Crouched behind a trash-can in an alley-way on the side of _Lakely and Oakes_ was a raccoon.

No, a Raccoon.

There was no doubt about it. He was the one who had spoken.

Fiyero's eyes opened in surprise. The Vinkus was mostly lawless and wild, but there weren't as many Animals over there as had once been truth. Galinda gave a startled cry, placing her hand over her chest.

Only Elphaba seemed unperturbed.

"Yes, you three." the Raccoon said again. "Are you going into _Lakely and Oakes_?"

"Yes, we are." Elphaba answered.

"Oh, do you happen to know whoever is playing music in there on week-day afternoons?" he asked.

"That's us." Fiyero answered, placing an arm around Galinda and Elphaba.

What better way to get himself within touching distance of Elphaba?

"Really?" the Raccoon asked in surprise. "But you're so young."

"We're students at Shiz." Elphaba answered.

"Oh, indeed." remarked the Raccoon. "Anyhow, I must say that I have been listening to your music from the alley and I am amazed to hear such fine quality music from such young men and women such as yourselves. You should be very proud, you know."

"Why were you listening to us from the alley?" Galinda asked suspiciously.

"Oh, it was not by design, my dear." the Raccoon said. "You see, there have been more bans placed on Animal rights. I used to be an orchestra conductor myself, but was sacked from the Tenniken Symphony Orchestra and forced to leave town all-together."

"Why?"

"Because of the bans, my dear!" insisted the Raccoon. "By my tail, something's not right in our dear Oz, children. I wonder why the Wizard does nothing about these problems."

"He-He's too busy making the rest of Oz wonderful!" Elphaba exclaimed.

"Is that what you truly believe?"

"I..." Elphaba sighed, finding herself at a lack for words. "I don't know."

"It's a little bit convenient, if you ask me, that apartheid laws restricting the mobility and workability of Animals have been going on throughout civilized Oz," the Raccoon said. "And yet our Wonderful Wizard has yet to do anything about it."

A moment of silence followed, while Elphaba pondered what this could mean.

No, she dismissed. There was no way. The Wizard had power, he wasn't wonderful for no reason. Whoever has been passing these laws of segregation is just being clever and covering their tracks.

But once the Wizard finds out, then it will be bad news for them.

"But enough politics," the Raccoon continued. "I believe I have not yet introduced myself." He held out a small, black hand towards them. "My name is Ramon Difarious, Raccoon conductor."

"Nice to meet you," Fiyero said, shaking the Raccoon's hand. "I'm Fiyero Tiggular, prince of the Vink..."

"Your highness!" Ramon bowed before Fiyero.

The prince chuckled. "That's a first. Hey, there's no need to bow."

"As you wish, your highness." Ramon said, nodding.

"Galinda Upland," the blond warily said, offering her hand to the Raccoon. "And that's _Ga_linda, with a _'ga_'."

"As you wish it." Ramon returned.

"Elphaba Thropp." The Raccoon and the green woman shook hands, and Ramon looked at his hand after they had exchanged hand-shakes.

"Nope, I really am..._green_." Elphaba commented. Ramon obviously was looking to see if his hand had rubbed off the green of her skin.

"Well that's nothing to be ashamed of," the Raccoon returned. "Does the Green Quadling poison-Frog think he's any less than a humble, brown Restwater toad?"

"I wouldn't know," Elphaba returned. "I've never been to Quadling."

"I have," he answered. "I spent my child-hood there before I moved to Gilikin to receive an education in music. That's what drew me to your music. I thought it was very inspiring and would like to offer my services to your band."

"We already have a guitarist, a bassist, a singer and a drummer." Fiyero answered.

"How about piano?" the Raccoon offered.

Fiyero and Elphaba exchanged surprised looks at each other.

If the green girl believed in the Unnamed God, then she'd think this was nothing short of a miracle!

* * *

><p><strong>(Here we go with the latest chapter! I hope you liked it. Yes, there is a reason for including the book-character of Milla. You'll see why later on)<strong>

**(Ramon Difarious is an OC. He originally made a cameo in an unpublished story that told the Musical-verse events between _Defying Gravity_ and _Thank Goodness_. The last name, unknowingly, was a rip-off from the Scooby-Doo movie [don't sue me, I don't own that either!] and I came up with Ramon because, as a Quadling, his name also is spoken as "Nomra", [similar to how Leia's character Leyen is also called Yenlay]. Do you think the name is a bad idea? If I should change it, what should it be changed to? Yes, he originally was a Raccoon. And Raccoon paws are black, that wasn't just me)**

**(So what _should_ the band be called? Please give us your ideas in the review section and I'll pick the best one and use it in the next chapter. If not, I'll just have to come up with something on my own that may or may not suit your tastes [if so, don't say I didn't give you the opportunity to have a better name]. I'm already writing on the next chapter, and hope to have it posted a.s.a.p.)**


	6. The First Gig

**(AN: Thank you, all of you, for the feedback on this story. The name, however, I came up with on my own. You'll be happy to find out that it fits with Elphaba's desire to sing about things that are current and relevant, and it includes every one of the band members as well [more or less]. I can honestly say that I'm having fun with this story. Idk if Elphaba's dry humor is OOC, though. And Galinda has a little bit of Lucille Ball in her [just a little. I know she's not blond, but it just seemed to help flesh out Galinda's silliness].)**

**(btw, the little diddy that Fiyero was singing was to the tune of _Dancing Through Life_, but the words were my own. I don't own the tune, that belongs to the Schwartz! [lol. there's a _Spaceballs _reference! "Leave us alone, Mel Brooks!" Oops, there's a _Men in Tights_ reference. lol])**

**(Here is what looks to be another long chapter. I might end up splitting it in half in the end, or something. And yes, I realized that I didn't make Fiyero stick up for Elphaba that much. Sorry about that. He's still on the edge with her, as it were. He hasn't gotten a chance to talk with her, which is what he is going to get [Just me wondering what he'd tell Elphaba if they got to finish their discussion at the Train Station scene])**

* * *

><p><strong>The First Gig<strong>

_Lakely and Oakes_ was an interesting sight.

One wouldn't give it a second glance if only passing and looked upon the dilapidated state of the exterior.

Inside, however, was a different story.

Galinda had a small pail of pink paint, which she was skillfully applying to the outside of the drum-set, her tongue sticking out of her pursed lips as she concentrated on the painting.

It was the most concentrated she had ever been.

Across from her sat the others.

Fiyero had his bass unplugged and was slapping away acoustically on his prized instrument.

Elphaba was crouched up in her usual, spidery position, with her knees bent up to her chin, writing something on a piece of notebook paper.

Ramon was at her side, looking over what she was writing and offering his advice and comment.

Avaric was late again.

"We must decide on a name for our band," Ramon said, raising his nose up from where Elphaba was writing.

"Shines and Sparkles!" Galinda replied, waving her arms about dramatically.

She still had the brush in her hand and pink paint was splattered upon the floor.

"No!" Elphaba shot back from where she sat.

"The Lakely and Oakes Committee." Fiyero suggested.

Galinda made an 'ugh' sound.

"I like your thinking, Your Highness." Ramon said to Fiyero.

"You're thinking _again_?" gasped Galinda.

"No need to call me 'Your Highness', Ray." Fiyero said, turning to the Raccoon. "Fiyero's just alright."

"But I like where you're getting at," the Raccoon continued. "You know, so many times I've heard these bands with names that are just things or one person from the band. We need to send a message that our band is not just one person, but a group of people, all working together for our music."

"Group of People?" Galinda queried, raising her hands in a quizzical manner.

All of them shook their heads in rejection.

"What about Today?" Fiyero asked. "I mean, after all, we've got Never Silent as our main influence, so I guess that would work."

"You listen to Never Silent?" Ramon asked.

"She does." Galinda said, pointing her brush at Elphaba.

"I met Yamara from Never Silent," Ramon pipped up. "By Ozma, what a voice!"

"Oz!" Galinda almost shouted.

"Sounds good," Fiyero said.

Galinda smiled at Fiyero's recognition of her suggestion.

"Mmm, no, I don't think so." Ramon rebutted. "People will think we endorse the Wizard."

"Don't we?" Elphaba asked, breaking her pensive silence.

"Of course, we do, to a degree." Ramon answered. "As loyal citizens, it is our duty to obey our governors. Though I have a bad feeling about playing too close to the Wizard. I don't know, he has enough attention as it is, being the Great and Wonderful Wizard and everything. Just doesn't seem right to be gilding a lily, if you understand my poetic euphemism."

"Huh?" Galinda asked, totally lost in Ramon's syntax.

"Yeah, I'm drawing a blank over here too." Fiyero added.

"Well, I'm sure you all know a lily when you see one." Ramon began. "To gild something usually means to cover with gold. Therefore, to gild the lily is to try to make something already beautiful become _more_ beautiful."

The two nodded in confirmation of his definition.

"Any other ideas?" the Raccoon asked. "I'm all burned out, as it is."

"Nope." Galinda said, returning to the drums.

"Oh, well," Fiyero said. "We'll figure something out."

"Speaking of figuring things out," Ramon began. "I haven't got a piano."

"Don't worry about that," Fiyero answered. "The Emerald Trader has this new-fangled device called a keyboard. Says it can play like a piano and replicate an entire orchestra all on its own."

Ramon Difarious' smile faded.

"What's wrong?" Fiyero asked.

"Hmm? Oh, it's nothing. I get amazed at all this technology, sometimes. Personally, I don't believe any invention can ever replace the pounding of the precussion, the roar of the brass, the sigh of the woodwinds and the cry of the strings!"

They all turned to look at the Raccoon. His praise of a real orchestra was almost like an empassionate sermon.

"Sorry, I don't mean to stand on the soap-box, as it were." Ramon apologized. "I have a high appreciation for a genuine orchestra."

"**THAT's** no surprise." Galinda muttered to herself.

"Besides, places like The Emerald Trader aren't for me, if you catch my drift."

"What do you mean?" Fiyero asked.

"Haven't you seen the signs?" the Raccoon asked. "_'No Animals Allowed.'_ They're showing up more and more around Gilikin every day. They don't even have signs in Munchkinland, I've heard, they just force the Animals into the fields."

"Aww, that's terrible." Galinda sympathetically pouted.

But it didn't seem that genuine.

At least to Fiyero's eyes.

"Hey, don't worry about the piano, okay?" Fiyero said at last. "I'll buy the keyboard and bring it here."

"You're too kind, P...Fiyero. Now, back to our band. How about a show? You know, the best way to get the word out about music is to play a venue."

"But there aren't any music venues in Shiz." Galinda said, turning from her work.

"Elphaba, you're being rather quiet over there." Fiyero said, looking in the direction of the green woman.

She said nothing, but kept her face hidden from view, tucked away behind the notepad.

The rear-exit of the building opened up.

There was Avaric.

"Hey, you're late!" Fiyero said, placing his bass down and walking towards Avaric.

"Since when did you care about punctuality, Tiggular?" Tenmeadows returned.

He took one look at the two ladies, then saw movement from Elphaba's side.

"What the hell is that?" he asked.

Ramon peered out from behind the green girl.

"What in Oz's name is a raccoon doing here?"

"Raccoon, I might add." Ramon replied, sounding a little offended.

Avaric scoffed.

"What is this?" he asked.

"We needed a keyboardist," Fiyero answered, rising to his feet.

"And you got a freaking raccoon?" Avaric answered, pointing to Ramon.

"Raccoon, if you don't mind."

"This has got to be the biggest joke in the history of Shiz!" exclaimed Avaric.

"Why?" Elphaba answered, rising to Ramon's defense. "Because Ramon is an Animal?"

"Oh look, the cabbage has a soft spot for strays," Avaric mocked. "Hey, I wonder if the blood from your bleeding heart is as green as your skin."

"Say that again, Tenmeadows, I dare you!" Elphaba roared, lunging at him.

It took all of Fiyero's strength to keep the green woman from attacking Avaric.

For someone so thin, she moved like a snake.

"Looks like I hit the mark," Avaric returned. "Seeing you all riled up like this."

"Avaric, just shut your damn mouth for once!" Fiyero almost shouted.

"Why, huh?" Tenmeadows returned, his blue eyes an inch from Fiyero's nose. "What's the big, bad Winkie gonna do if I won't, huh? You can't hit me or I'll quit, and you need me, I **KNOW** you do!"

Fiyero sighed off his frustration.

Dammit, Avaric was right.

"Why the hell do you care about Miss Artichoke?" he asked, looking at Elphaba. "You didn't stick up for her this badly before." A smirk came across his face.

"Do you like her?"

Fiyero was at a loss for words.

Dare he say yes?

Galinda was back there, her hands over her mouth in shock, no doubt. But she was there, and in listening range.

If he said yes, it would break her heart.

_And I care?_ he thought. _I never used to care about breaking hearts with all the other girls I dated._

_And I'm still thinking._

But if he said no, he knew it would be a bold-faced lie. He couldn't live with himself if he lied right to Elphaba, to the only person who knew him for who and what he really was.

Silence filled the tense air of _Lakely and Oakes_.

Avaric took a step back and snorted in disgust.

"What a joke," he said. "This whole band thing. They'll be calling us the Five Freaks. It would fit, too."

"Why?" Elphaba shot back. "Because of some stupid signs on department stores? Because of some writing on a classroom chalk-board? Because you and your high society friends are afraid of someone who looks different than you? Like it or not, Animals are people of Oz just as much as people from Gilikin or Munchkinland are!"

Avaric rolled his eyes.

"You know, Thropp, you may be green," he said, pointing at her. "But you can't even utter a word without betraying your lineage: just another pea-brained, stupid Munchkinlander."

He walked backwards towards the door.

"Tiggular," he said, shouting towards Fiyero. "Keep the raccoon if you want, just remember: animals should be seen, not heard...unless into the fields or slaughterhouses."

With a mocking laugh, he strutted the rest of the way out the back door.

"Avaric, wait!" Fiyero called after him, running out the door he had just left.

The two girls were left with Ramon all by themselves.

"Perhaps I should be on my way." the Raccoon said.

"What? No!" Elphaba protested.

"I'm not blind, Elphaba." he returned. "I can see when I'm not wanted."

"Don't pay any attention to what Avaric says, he's like that way to everyone who's different." Elphaba said. "We w...we need you in our band."

"Really?"

"Yes!" Elphaba nodded. "Don't we, Galinda?"

She looked up from her kit, a splotch of pink paint on her cute nose, nodding at what she was not even paying attention.

"And I know Fiyero wants you," Elphaba said, placing her green hand on Ramon's shoulder. "Or else he wouldn't have let you come with us. That's three against one, you stay."

"Do you really mean that?" he asked, a tear welling up in his eye.

Elphaba nodded.

The Raccoon threw himself into her arms, and she placed her arms around his furry back, giving him a gentle pat.

A loud gasp suddenly came from the drum-kit.

The green woman and the Raccoon turned to look.

"I've got it!" Galinda shouted.

"Got what?" Ramon asked.

"The name for our band!" she almost sang. "People of Oz!"

"Huh?" Elphaba asked. "Where did you get **THAT** from?"

"Well, from you, Elphie!" Galinda said, bouncing over to her friend. "When you told Avaric that Animals are people of Oz too, I had this sudden idea, it's the most splendiforous thing to ever happen!"

"What? What is it?"

"Well," Galinda began. "You see, I'm a girl from Gilikin, and Avaric is a boy from Gilikin, and Fiyero is a Winkie, and Ramon is a Quadling-Raccoon, and you're a green girl from Munchkinland!"

"So?" Elphaba asked.

"So," Galinda exclaimed. "We represent the people of Oz: Gilikinese, Munchkinlander, Winkies and Quadlings...even Animals!"

"But I'm not a Munchkin," Elphaba answered. "Besides, the color of Munchkinland is blue, not green."

"I thought you didn't want to be known by your verdigree, Elphie!" exclaimed Galinda.

Elphaba's eyes blinked.

It was like that night in their rooms before.

When Galinda did something that was totally unlike her.

When she cared for Elphaba's problem.

Just the way that Galinda brushed aside Elphaba's "green skin", like it didn't even matter, made Elphaba's heart skip a beat.

That was what she really wanted, she knew deep down inside.

As much as she longed to be "normal" like everyone else...

She wouldn't mind being green if that didn't make a difference to people.

Ususally it did.

But now, in Galinda's big, sparkly blue eyes, it didn't.

Elphaba almost threw herself into the little blond's arms.

"I love that idea, Galinda!" she exclaimed.

Ramon threw himself into the hug.

After all, it was about all of them, he thought.

* * *

><p>The next several days showed no sign of stopping when it came to their classes. As usual, Elphaba did her best to stay on top of her classes and received top marks as per usual.<p>

Her room-mate, however, was not as enthusiastic about studying.

The two were now in their rooms. On one end sat Elphaba, her books laid out before her and a pad of notebook paper laying out as well, on which she jotted down lines in verse. She was also very critical, for if there was even a little bit that she did not like, she would scribble it out and then throw the paper in the waste-bin over by the door.

Galinda Upland, meanwhile, was busy at her mirror, perfecting her make-up and brushing her hair with her beloved brush made from the hairs of Horse's tail.

Not the plant, mind you.

"Elphie, can I ask you something?" the blond asked.

"You mean '**MAY** I ask you something?'" corrected Elphaba. "And here Dr. Dillamond said you favored form over content."

"Oh phooie!" Galinda returned. "But will you listen to what I have to say?"

"Go ahead." Elphaba rolled her eyes.

"You know, I think it's time for another make-over."

"Galinda, don't!"

"Oh, come on, Elphie! I've had nothing to do but bang on those noisy drums every afternoon all week!"

"Well, Fiyero's doing his best to get a gig booked."

"I know," Galinda pouted. "But I wish he'd hurry up. I'm getting bored with nothing to do."

"Why don't you go out and help him?" Elphaba asked. "You know, you're actually pretty good at public relations."

"You think?" queried the blond.

"Oh, sure." Elphaba nodded.

"I don't know, should I?" Galinda asked.

"You know, you always say that every time you're brought into a situation." Elphaba stated.

"I do not!"

"Galinda, why are you so inactive?"

The blond had nothing to say to this accusation.

"Well...well, what about you?"

"What about me?"

"Why don't **YOU** do anything to help us get a gig together?"

"Galinda, I'm studying. Some of us actually care about our careers other than music."

A frown came across the blond's face.

"You don't care about the band, do you?" she pouted.

Elphaba scoffed.

"I didn't mean it that way," she returned. "It's just that I think I should focus on my studies as well as music. In case you haven't noticed, I've been humming the notes I take in class in my free time."

Galinda giggled.

"Why would you do that?"

"So I can memorize them, for one," the green girl began. "And for two, so I can practice on singing melodies for these songs."

"Oh," Galinda 'ooh'd', then brushed her hair some more. "Hey, Elphie, just how many songs do we have?"

"About four, or so." she replied. "They're not much, because Avaric Tenmeadows is too proud to play with us, so we'll never know what they sound like unless we play them live."

"Hey, why don't we record some of them on a record, huh?" Galinda suggested.

"We don't have the equipment to record music." she answered.

"What's there to need?"

"Well, for one, we need a sound-proof room." Elphaba began. "_Lakely and Oakes_ has a bad echo, we can't record in there. Then we'd need the actual equipment, which I'm sure is going to cost a fortune."

"Elphie, stop being such a party-pooper!"

"I'm being realistic! Those artists like Lancely the Warbler and the OzDust Dance Crew got professionals to record their music. Plus, it took Never Silent almost three years before they got enough money from doing shows in underground venues before they could record an album, and by then they had enough material for five."

"Underground?" Galinda asked.

"Not public venues." Elphaba returned. "Or at least, smaller ones."

The blond laughed.

"Who'd go to **THOSE** kinds of places?"

"A lot of people do...including me."

Silence followed, while the blond girl returned to her hair.

The green girl continued at her studies, pausing ever so often to jot down a melody or some lines that would make good lyrics.

* * *

><p>Elphaba was late for practice.<p>

Madam Morrible held her over for a few extra minutes after Sorcery class.

A cup of tea and some discussion about the Wizard.

She was almost running down the cobble-stone streets of Shiz to get to _Lakely and Oakes_ before the others decided to cancel practice for lack of a singer-songwriter.

Her arms swayed as she ran down the road, heedless of all else.

There were certain advantages to being...well, for lack of a better term, endowed with a smaller bosom.

Less weight to carry.

Easier to run faster that way.

Elphaba skid to a halt as she saw a sight that drove practice completely out of her head.

"Are you okay?" she called out to the form she found lying on the side of the road.

"Who's there?" the fallen person cried out. "Please, help me! There...there was an accident! I think I've broken my leg!"

Elphaba ran across the street to the fallen person, eager to give what help she could.

She didn't have much in regards to skill as a physician, but she had taken care of Nessarose when she had been ill. It was nothing she could not handle.

A cry from the broken-legged man's mouth issued as Elphaba got closer.

"What?" she asked. "What's wrong?"

"Stay away from me!" cried the man, pulling himself by his arms away from Elphaba. "Monster!"

"No, stop!" she returned, a pang of guilt rising up in her throat as she heard the word.

She knew exactly why he called her that.

"Don't come any closer!" he shouted again.

"I'm not going to hurt you!" Elphaba protested. "Yes, I'm green, but I want to help you."

"I don't need help!" the man replied, shaking his head frantically.

"You just said your legs are broken," Elphaba stated. "And its not safe to be on the side of the street, especially this late. Here..." She offered a green hand to the broken-legged man. "Let me help you. I can take you to the hospital wing at the University, you'll be safe there."

A moment of silence followed.

The man's eyes seemed to look back and forth between Elphaba's hand and her face, and then at all sides.

A wad of spit issued out of the man's mouth, shot directly at Elphaba.

It missed her hand and fell upon her boots.

"Go to hell, you freak!" he groaned.

Elphaba walked on her way.

But her mind was in knots over the man's reaction.

Did people **REALLY** hate her skin color so much that they would rather lie on the side of the road with broken legs than get help from a green person?

What kind of fool would refuse help simply because the helper's outer appearance didn't appeal to their tastes?

The words Galinda and Ramon came back into her mind.

Filling her heart with guilt for wishing she was not green.

But Ramon was an Animal, and they were suffering the alienating affects of apartheid and segregation brought on by these Animal bans.

A wild thought came into Elphaba's mind, one that she had never even dreamed of thinking before: not even in her wildest dreams.

What if, once she was the Wizard's Vizir, and could use the power he would give her to undo the bans, the Animals would not trust her?

Not because she was green...

But because she was human?

* * *

><p>The front door to <em>Lakely and Oakes<em> creaked open.

"Elphie?" Galinda asked.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Fiyero inquired, walking over to Elphaba's side and placing his hand on her shoulder.

She brushed it off. Walking past the four of them, she came to a halt before the pink drum-set and sat down, pulling her notepad out of her book-bag.

Yes, the four of them.

Avaric Tenmeadows was there too.

"Are you sick, Thropp?" he asked. "You sure look green enough."

Galinda seized a wad of balled-up paper and threw it at Avaric.

Unfortunately, her aim was not as good as Elphaba's, and Tenmeadows caught the missile just a foot before his face and threw it at Ramon.

"She started it." Avaric lied, pointing to Galinda.

The Raccoon said nothing, but walked over to his keyboard, picked up his spectacles and went over his musical notes.

Apparently, Fiyero had made good on his promise.

"Oh, Elphie," Galinda bounced over to her room-mate. "We have splendiforous news to turn that frown of yours upside downsies!"

"Do you have any idea how corny that sounds?" Elphaba commented dryly.

"What do I know of corn? I'm no Munchkin!" Galinda returned.

Elphaba shook her head.

"I got us a gig booked." Fiyero stated.

The others, obviously, had heard this already.

For none of them had the same surprised looks on their faces that Elphaba had.

"Are you serious?"

"Never, but I'm telling you the truth." Fiyero answered. "Now, it's not exactly the OzDust, but it's a start and that's as good as anything."

"I thought the OzDust was a ballroom!" Galinda queried aloud.

"It is called the OzDust Ballroom," Avaric drawled on in response. "But bands have been known to play there, for rather large ticket prices. After all, Thropp..." He turned to Elphaba. "This is Gilikin. We can afford to be free with our money, unlike you Munchkinlanders."

"When is it?" Elphaba asked.

"This weekend." Fiyero answered.

Elphaba's mouth fell open, in imitation of Galinda's oft-gaping mouth.

Almost.

"That's three days from now!" she exclaimed. "We'll never be ready by then!"

"You mean **_YOU_** won't be ready by then," Avaric stated. "I've already learned those boring limmericks you call 'songs' by heart, I could play every instrument by myself."

"Avaric, that's enough!" Fiyero snapped. "Now listen, we haven't played together yet, which is why I insisted you come to practice and participate."

"Look at you, Tiggular." Tenmeadows mocked. "Getting all responsible on us. Talk about selling out."

"I'm not a sell-out!" Fiyero retorted. "I've been busy getting this band together. Now I think we can get the word out easier if we each take these fliers..." He pointed to a stack of black-and-white fliers he had laying on the top of his bass amplifier. "...and spread them around campus."

"Me and Elphie can place them around Crage Hall." Galinda volunteered.

"Avaric and I have already placed a few in the dorms at Ozma Towers." Fiyero stated.

"And some of my friends in the underground have done likewise." Ramon added from his keyboard.

"Where will we be playing at?" Elphaba asked.

A tense silence filled the empty room of Lakely and Oakes.

"Uh, well..." Galinda said, biting her lower lip.

"Before I say anything," Fiyero said. "Just realize that I tried everywhere else in Shiz. This town isn't known for having the most swankified tastes in music, you know."

"To say the least." Avaric added.

"Where's it at?" the green woman asked again.

Another pause.

"The Philosophy Club."

Elphaba rose to her feet in protest.

"No!" she stated plainly. "Do you even know what goes on over there?"

"Don't be such a prude, Thropp." Avaric mocked.

"We're all adults, Elphie." Galinda stated meekly.

"Some of us, at least." Tenmeadows added snidely.

"They were the only place in town that had an opening for a band!" Fiyero defended. "Besides..." He leaned on one leg, crossing his arms in a very self-important, braggadocious fashion. "...I've seen some stuff in my time. How bad can it be?"

"You haven't seen anything until you've seen the Philosophy Club." Avaric warned.

"You should know," Elphaba returned.

"Do you know what perplexes me?" Ramon interjected.

All eyes turned to the Animal.

"Well, I've been to the Philosophy Club at least once before," he answered. "And I don't see how what goes on behind its doors is in any way related to philosophy."

"It's the whole pleasure-faith thing," Elphaba almost mocked. "They see all life as just one high after another, and their 'philosophy', if you call it that, is pretty much 'do whatever feels good.'"

"Since when did you become a believer?" Avaric returned.

"I don't believe in that pfaith-crap." Elphaba retorted. "It's all just tik-tock and sleight-of-hand nonsense, if you ask me." She turned back to Fiyero. "Do you even know what might happen to us at the Philosophy Club?"

"You scared?" Tenmeadows taunted.

"Hey," Fiyero interjected. "It's our first gig, we've got to take some changes, haven't we?" He held out his arms. "C'mon, everyone else is okay with this...what do you say?"

Elphaba looked at them in turn, one by one.

Avaric did not look her in the eyes.

She expected as much.

But as for the other three, their eyes showed their earnest intent.

To put on the show.

She nodded.

That was all the answer they needed.

* * *

><p>The next three days had flown by like a tornado.<p>

Now the five were on their way to the Philosophy Club, their equipment in hand.

It was in a seedy part of town, where few respectable people, not to mention students of Shiz, ever ventured.

Well, at least publically.

"I still can't believe you didn't let me at least fix your hair, Elphie." Galinda commented as she bounced beside her room-mate.

All she had in hand were her drum-sticks.

Both of which had been painted pink and topped with fuzzy white puff-balls.

"I'm totally okay with looking natural, Galinda." the green woman stated. "I don't need to look fancy, or anything."

"But you could have at least dressed down," Galinda commented. "You're wearing your school uniform, for Oz's sakes!"

True enough, Elphaba was wearing her white uniform blouse and dark blue skirt.

At least her hair was down.

And at least she wore her black dress boots.

In stark contrast, Galinda wore her pink, froofy dress - the one she wore to the OzDust dance that night she and Elphaba became friends. She even had her high-heeled shoes on (one of many from her collection), a string of pearls around her neck and had gone all out by reapplying her make-up and fixing her hair just for today.

"Do you know how hot you're going to be?" Elphaba asked.

"Oh, Elphie!" Galinda giggled. "Not too loud, or they'll think you want to, well, you know..."

Elphaba rolled her eyes. "I meant sweaty. You'll be playing your heart out in the spot-lights, don't you think it'll ruin your make-up?"

"I at least want to look good for our first show, Elphie!" Galinda sang in return.

Behind them walked Fiyero, Avaric and Ramon. Both Fiyero and Avaric had their instruments strung across their backs, their amps carried in one hand, and a piece of Galinda's drum-set in their other hands. Fiyero had the snare under his right arm, a small tom under his left arm and the crash under in his left hand. Avaric had the largest tom under one arm and his right arm held the ride cymbal.

It took all of Ramon's strength to carry his keyboard upon his back.

At the very end of the group Boq followed on behind, the huge bass drum strapped on his back and the last tom tied to his belt.

Elphaba, at the head with the hi-hat in one hand and the PA in the other, and the foot-pedals in her back-pack, had convinced Galinda to let Boq follow along.

If only because they needed another hand for carrying the drum-set.

"Elphie," Galinda commented, turning to her room-mate. "What will become of Nessarose if neither you or Bick is there to take care of her?"

"Madam Morrible is watching after her for tonight," Elphaba answered. "Besides, as much as I care for Nessa, she needs to do things on her own. I won't be able to take care of her forever, you know."

The five band members (plus Boq) arrived at the front of the Philosophy Club. On the outside, it looked like a kind of scholastic building, complete with an observatory tower.

It was the other things, however, that weren't so scholastic that happened inside that set it apart.

"I think we're too early." Galinda commented.

It was about 13:02 by the Clock of the Time Dragon, the afternoon hadn't even started yet.

"That's the point, though." Fiyero answered. "Get here early so we can get our gear set up. You wouldn't want to go out at the last minute and rush everything through, would you?"

"I guess not." Galinda returned.

At the front door there was a booth of glass. Inside the booth was one of the most hideous old crones they had ever seen.

From the looks of things, Madam Morrible was much more appealing than this old biddy.

"Hello, my duckies." wheezed the old woman. "What can mad Madam Yackle do you for this fine late morning? We ain't openin' till later tonight, if that's what you're after."

"No," Fiyero answered. "See, we're the band. We're here to get ourselves set up."

"Band, eh?" Yackle commented. "This it?"

Fiyero nodded.

Elphaba swallowed hard.

The way the old crone - Yackle was it? - was looking at her, one eye bulging out like an oversized glass bead, unnerved Elphaba to the bone.

"Alright then, duckies," Yackle said at last. "Get your tails inside."

One by one, the group walked past Yackle and entered the dim-lit innards of the Philosophy Club.

Elphaba could have sworn that the old woman was muttering something to herself when Elphaba passed by.

She did not know what it meant, though. It all seemed very incoherent to her.

Like some kind of lost language known only to the old woman.

It was dark and thick with smoke inside the Philosophy club. As of yet, nobody was about the floor and only a young Quadling girl was at the bar, cleaning up.

By the collar around her neck, Elphaba could have sworn she was a slave.

Trying to look inconspicuous in a room full of nobody but themselves, they walked over towards the large stage, where the "shows" would take place.

Tonight, a different kind of entertainment would grace the Philosophy Club.

* * *

><p>Over the next few hours, the band known as <em>The People of Oz<em> got ready for their first big concert ever.

Aside from the fact that the Philosophy Club was not designed as a music venue and the PA system they had wasn't the best, they improvised. Galinda ordered Boq about, telling her how she wanted the drums set up, Fiyero made sure the amps were in working order and Elphaba helped out as much as she could.

The major snag about this was that Avaric seemed to be in a permanent foul mood for having to play with the others. Originally, they had planned on setting up with all of the band members forming a loose circle around the drum-set, with everyone facing outward towards the crowd.

Tenmeadows, however, would not play unless he was just a few inches closer to the crowd than Elphaba, and Ramon was at the very back, with no spot-light on him.

"I won't have it!"

"Elphaba..."

"You can't keep sticking up for him!" the green woman insisted. "He's making this band all about himself!"

"Well, isn't it?" Avaric returned, sticking his nose and blue eyes directly in Elphaba's face. "I'm the only good guitarist in Shiz, without me, you'd be sunk! I'm the heart and soul of this band and what I say goes!"

"You're not the heart and soul of _People of Oz_," Elphaba returned. "This is a _group_ effort, we're all in this **_together**!**_**"

"Oh yeah?" Avaric mocked. "Last time I checked, I'm better than _**all**_ you losers, so just shut your green mouth before I stick something in it that'll shut it forever!"

Elphaba scowled at Avaric's nerve.

"Please, can we stop fighting?" Galinda asked, bouncing over to where Elphaba, Fiyero and Avaric stood onstage.

"Oh, sure," Avaric commented. "Let's all stop fighting! Don't want Fiyero's groupie to be upset, do we?"

Elphaba and Fiyero jumped at Avaric, striking him with their fists.

"Galinda is **_NOT_** a groupie, you pervert!" Elphaba shrieked, her green fist connecting with Avaric's stomach.

"Now you've crossed the line!" Fiyero added, giving Avaric a kick in the side.

Avaric wiped the blood off his mouth and rose to his feet, staring Fiyero in the face.

"Have I?" he mocked. "You'll be **_finished_** without me!"

He spat blood at Fiyero's feet and then began taking his amplifier and guitar off the stage.

Fiyero ran after him.

"What's a groupie?" Galinda asked meekly.

* * *

><p>The rest of the practice went on without Avaric, as they made sure all of their instruments were in tune and would not drown each other out once they got started.<p>

As the hours ticked by, neither Fiyero nor Avaric made any appearance. People came and went from the Philosophy Club in a steady flow, but they were too busy to pay any attention to the two ladies and the Raccoon who busied themselves upon the stage.

Business here would boom once the sun went down.

Galinda was twirling her pink-and-furry drum-sticks about, making sure she could make pretty flourishes in between each beat with her free hand.

Elphaba was slumped against Fiyero's bass amplifier.

"Excuse me?" the Raccoon said, walking over to where she sat. "I-I couldn't help but notice that you've been sitting by yourself since we last practiced."

"I like solitude," she answered.

"Oh, I know that isn't true," Ramon answered. "Something is wrong, isn't it?"

"You're just now noticing it?" she snapped. "We have no guitarist and no bassist! We're sunk!"

The Raccoon said nothing, for he knew that she was right.

If Fiyero and Avaric didn't turn up sooner or later, they couldn't perform.

Galinda was busy with her make-up, re-applying it for what seemed like the hundred-thousandth time...

At least to Elphaba it seemed that way.

Elphaba tried to look out beyond the spot-lights that were trained directly onto the stage.

The Philosophy Club was starting to get filled up with patrons.

They were on thin ice, now.

_Fiyero and Avaric better show up soon_, she thought, _or this will all be for nothing._

Just then, a door opened.

Two familiar young men walked onto the stage of the Philosophy Club.

"Fiyero?" Elphaba asked, turning to him.

"I got him to do it," Fiyero answered. "Don't ask how, let's just thank Oz that he decided on it."

Casting a glance at Tenmeadows, Elphaba noticed that he was wearing an emerald mask furnished with gold.

"What's with the mask?"

"Well, you _did_ break his nose, Fae." Fiyero admitted, which brought a smirk to Elphaba's face.

"Besides," he continued. "Maybe he thinks nobody'll notice him or something."

Just then, a Dwarf waddled up onstage and a microphone came down on a cord from above the curtained ceiling.

"Ladies, gentlemen and Animals of all ages," the Dwarf sang. "Welcome to the Philosophy Club, where pleasure is king. Tonight, we have the supreme honor of having a live performance from a local band. Give it up!"

Scattered applause came from the half-drunk and horny audience.

The Dwarf hopped off-stage and the microphone ascended once again into the ceiling.

Fiyero and Avaric finished plugging their instruments into their amps.

Elphaba's green fingers wrapped around the microphone as the stage-lights lit up...

All around her.

A sudden lump started forming in her throat. A shock of static came from the mic as she moved her lips close to it. Not only could she not speak, but her lips now stung. How could she even sing?

But how hard could it be, she told herself. She'd spent her whole life with people gaping at her. She could deal with it...

Couldn't she?

Elphaba cleared her throat.

"Good evening," she spoke into the microphone.

She was already amazed at how loud her own voice sounded in the PA.

She swallowed hard again, trying to conquer the lump in her throat.

Here it was, do or die, the point of no return.

Yesterday, she was Elphaba Thropp, "the green girl."

Tonight, she was Fae of the People of Oz, a singer.

Galinda banged the sticks together, counting out the beat.

_"One..."_

_"Two..."_

_"Three..."_

_"Four..."_

_There's no turning back now_, she thought.

* * *

><p><strong>(Now THAT was a mouthful!)<strong>

**(I finally completed this chapter! I couldn't be happier! [Thank Goodness! lol] Now I'm venturing on into the "middle territory" that I have not yet planned out, so it will be as new to me as it is to you. Though, for the forseeable future, should I endeavor to recreate the events of that first gig or leave it to your imagination?)**

**(Everything that has happened in this chapter is for a reason, more or less. Had a little bit of a Gelphie moment, hope I didn't go too overboard. Sometimes, though its probably not the best way to write, you just write according to how you feel at the present moment - and, well, some of that occured in this story. It'll flesh out later. And I've always wondered, would the Animals trust Elphaba once she's with the Wizard? [just some food for thought])**

**(Review and give us your insight! Next chapter will be up as soon as possible, so stay tuned!)  
><strong>


	7. The Afterparty

**(AN: I've been way to busy with other stories and rl to do much with this story. Now I'm getting back to it. Hopefully my readers haven't abandoned me in the period of departure.)**

**(I need more ideas, please. Like songs, for instance! One reason I waited so long is that I wanted to include song-lyrics for their songs, while portraying the live shows. Unfortunately, I can't even make song lyrics for my own music project - I can drum, play guitar, bass and even sing [weakly, though, and a baritone at that], but I can't make any lyrics or melodies :(. So yeah, how can I pump out stuff for my characters when I can't even make stuff for myself? If you have ideas, please either send them in the PM or the reviews. Thank you)**

* * *

><p><strong>The Afterparty<strong>

Free drinks were better than nothing. Although, after a stellar performance, some of the People of Oz would have liked to receive a more lucrative compensation.

Avaric Tenmeadows being among that number.

"Drinks I can get anytime," he said, as they walked out the back of the Philosophy Club. Things were getting rowdy and they could not reach the front without being caught in some orgy or another.

Behind him walked Fiyero, then Elphaba and Galinda, the latter of which was reapplying her make-up. Even now, after midnight, she wanted her make-up to be spot-on. Behind waddled Ramon with his keyboard and Boq, eagerly trying to snag a moment with Galinda.

"You know," Elphaba said to her blond room-mate. "I don't think you should have left your drum-set there all by itself. What if something happens to it?"

"I can always ask Momsy and Popsicle for another one," Galinda commented carelessly. "They always send money when I ask for it."

Elphaba nodded, though a little bemused. Not only was this not healthy, but it pained her that her own father never even gave her the slightest consideration. Not that she wanted monetary compensation...or did she?

So many thoughts went through her head through the one-hour-long set, and she was still shivering from all the thoughts and emotions that went through her body as she sang on the stage, the lights making her verdigris look more like teal. She had to clear her head, another reason they made for the exit.

"Well now," Avaric said, holding up the bottle of Frottica '57 Blue: a good year, that one. "Here's to a shitty performance, that got us only a bottle of wine!"

"That's the best you can say?" Fiyero returned.

"I don't think it was that bad!" Galinda said, closing her make-up kit and stowing it back in her hand-bag.

"I thought you'd have something worse to say, Tenmeadows."

"Screw them, Tiggular" Avaric said. "I know I was the best one in the stage and I don't need money to prove it."

"What was that you said about only getting a bottle of wine?" Elphaba asked.

"Don't start with me, Thropp!" he returned. "I got something, at least."

He removed the cork and then took a long draught of the stuff, whooping loudly after removing it from his lips. They noticed that he was swaying about once he finished his drink. Fiyero burst into laughter.

"Y'think sumthin's funny, Tiggular?" Avaric slurred. He took another swig of the bottle, holding it up high above his head while he swallowed the burning liquid. Fiyero took the bottle out of his hands while Avaric swayed for a second then fell flat on his back.

"What happened to him?" Galinda asked.

"He can't hold his drink!" Fiyero smirked, giving Avaric a well-deserved yet none-too-forceful kick in the side. He was passed out after only two drinks.

"Miss Galinda?" Boq called out for perhaps the hundredth time.

Galinda ran over to Elphaba, pulling at her room-mate's arm.

"Elphie, please!" she whined. "Can't we get rid of Bick?"

Elphaba didn't want to say anything. A certain unpleasant memory resurfaced from a time before she was friends with Galinda Upland. She was listening to Nessarose go on about how she was going to some amazing party with Boq, thanks to Galinda. She may not be as 'pretty' or 'popular' as her sister, Elphaba mused, but dammit she knew she was smarter. She saw through the ruse almost immediately: after all, she shared a room with Galinda. It wasn't like she hadn't heard Boq outside the window, throwing rocks to try and get Galinda's attention. And she also knew how much Galinda hated having him around her.

That was just the thing Galinda would do, shove Boq onto someone else just to get rid of him. Of course, Elphaba couldn't care less who she shoved Boq onto, unless it was her sister. She knew exactly what kind of mess this could cause, if allowed to go on untended. She could not allow Nessarose to come to harm, or be hurt in any way: Oz knows her father would take it out on her if she did.

But now she was friends with Galinda, and she couldn't just tell either of them off. Something inside her didn't want to hurt Galinda, while something else didn't want her to support what she was doing to Boq and Nessarose.

"Boq," she called back to the wee Munchkin, who gave an involuntary gasp of surprise at the green visage speaking to him. "Shouldn't you be studying?"

"Shouldn't you?" he bit back.

"I'm in the band." she returned with a smile.

"Well, I'm your first roadie!" he commented proudly, with a small swelling of his chest.

"We haven't even started touring yet." Elphaba said, turning rather to all of them rather than just Boq.

"Actually," Ramon stated. "I've been wondering about that. We need to think about the possibility of taking this little show on the road."

"What d'you mean?" Fiyero asked.

"Well," the Raccoon continued. "We haven't got the money to record albums, so the only way people will get to hear about us is by going from place to place and playing venues."

"What about school?" Elphaba asked.

"School's a drag!" Galinda laughed.

"Here here!" Fiyero added, taking a single gulp from the bottle.

"The summer season is just a few weeks away, isn't it?" Ramon asked. "We should be able to have a few days together for our tour."

"But how will we tour?" Fiyero asked.

"What do you mean?" Elphaba queried.

"We can't walk from town to town, carrying our instruments with us." he reasoned. "You know, some of those Gilikin towns are rather far-spread."

"We could always take the train." Galinda said.

Ramon cleared his throat rather loudly. "That would be a bit of a problem."

"We'll figure something out."

Both the Raccoon and Galinda turned to the ones who had spoken. Fiyero and Elphaba were staring at each other as well, for this was a great shocker to them both. They had just had the same thought at the same time and even spoke it at the same time as well.

"Uh," Boq nervously spoke up. "I think I'll go back and check on the instruments. Ha ha! Be right back." The Munchkin-lad sped off into the Philosophy Club as if he had just spotted Galinda in there by herself.

The tense air was suddenly broken by Galinda squealing.

"Oh, sweet Oz!"

Fiyero and Elphaba turned to see who or what had caused Galinda's start. Lying upon the street just a few ways away was something that looked like a body. Elphaba and Fiyero immediately ran over to see if it was alive or not. It was a human male. The face was stone cold, and no movement or sound of breath could be heard.

"I think he's dead." Fiyero stated. Looking down, he saw that his leg was broken.

Elphaba took one look at the face, and suddenly turned her head and walked away toward a line of barrels that sat outside the Philosophy club. Fiyero pushed the body onto the side-walk rather than leaving it in the streets, and walked over to Elphaba. Glinda meandered over to the wall of the building and watched from the outside as her boyfriend approached her room-mate.

"Friend of yours?" he inquired.

"No." she answered, keeping her face to the ground. She sniffed.

"Then what's the problem?"

"I could have saved him," she rose up and looked at Fiyero. "I ran into him several hours ago. He was lying in the streets, with a broken leg. I-I tried to help him..."

"But he wouldn't accept help from..."

"A green freak!" Elphaba shouted, hiding her face in her green hands.

Fiyero hopped up onto a nearby barrel and tried to comfort her by placing his arm around her shoulder. This was even closer than the Lion-cub incident.

"It wasn't your fault, Elphaba." he consoled.

"No, it was!" she returned. "It's because I'm green."

"You can't change that, you know."

"Some people can." she spit back determinedly. "But that's not the only problem."

"Well, then, what is?"

"It doesn't make sense, Fiyero, that someone in need would reject help when it was offered to them. Like if you were, say, drowning in the Restwater Lake, and someone threw you a rope to save you, it would be like throwing the rope back just because you didn't like the person with the rope!"

Fiyero didn't have an answer for that. After all, he may have started thinking, but he was no philosopher now - a true thinker, not one of these lecherous villains who frequented the Philosophy Club.

"Let me have that." Elphaba said, reaching out to the bottle in Fiyero's hand.

He handed it to her, and she lifted the mouth of the bottle up to her mouth. A few moments later, she gave it back to him, coughing a little from the bitter taste.

"Are you alright?" Fiyero asked.

She nodded. "I don't feel any better."

"It takes a little more than one drink, Elphaba." Fiyero said with a smirk.

"I'm not going to get drunk, you know." she said to him. "If anything, I have to keep you and Galinda from getting too smashed and start fooling around in front of me."

Fiyero chuckled a bit.

"Besides," Elphaba continued. "You're not staying at Shiz. I heard what you said that day when you came to Shiz."

"What did I say?"

"'I'm sure I won't last longer at this school than any of the others.'" she made a very comical caricature of Fiyero as she spoke.

"Do I really sound like that?"

"I don't know," Elphaba returned. "Maybe this blue stuff is getting to me." She and Fiyero shared a laugh. Galinda seemed completely forgotten where she stood, all alone on the side of the wall.

"Well, I don't know," Fiyero responded, taking a leisurely swig of the '57 Blue. "Maybe I'll stick around. Come back for a semester or two."

"Be careful, Fiyero," Elphaba said. "That 'scandalacious' reputation of yours is in danger. You're sounding like a normal person now."

"I'm highly offended!" Fiyero mocked, throwing his hand upon his chest in over-dramatization. Elphaba was hard-pressed to subdue a laugh. Just then she saw Galinda sitting on the side of the wall. "Hey, Galinda, come here and join us."

The blond shook her head. "I think I'll go to bed. I don't feel very good right now." Galinda walked off towards Crage Hall, looking very dejected. Elphaba suddenly got up off the barrel and walked after her.

"No, you stay there." Galinda pouted. "I don't wanna ruin your fun."

"Galinda, get real!" Elphaba protested. "You can't go walking back to Shiz at night alone."

Galinda waved her hands at the empty air, trying to swat them off, but Elphaba and Fiyero decided that they would accompany her back to Crage Hall, and do that they would.

* * *

><p>Once they found the building, they brought Galinda up to the entrance and waited for a moment. They could not go all the way in, since Fiyero was obviously a boy and not welcome here. Galinda turned back to Fiyero, grabbed his collar, brought him down a little bit and kissed him. Once done, she meandered back to the door.<p>

"Coming, Elphie?" she asked.

"I've got to get our equipment back from the Philosophy Club!" she reasoned.

"Yeah, and I'll help." Fiyero added.

Galinda nodded, then bade them goodnight and departed back into the room.

Along the gas-lamp lit streets of Shiz the two friends wandered back to the Philosophy Club. Both of them walked in silence, for they were both lost in their thoughts. No matter what obscure topics their thoughts wandered to, they always came back to the same thing: each other.

Fortunately, they discovered that Ramon and Boq had made short work of the instruments. Some of the Raccoon's friends had joined in and they had taken the instruments back to _Lakely and Oakes_ for them. Elphaba hugged the Munchkin after hearing what he had done: it was a major relief that their instruments were safe now. Boq gave a cry of alarm at being hugged by something so...green, and ran off as fast he could back to Ozma Towers.

Fiyero laughed, but Elphaba did not.

They bade farewell to Ramon, and then headed back to Crage Hall. All the while their thoughts lingered on each other.

_I can't believe I'm thinking_, Fiyero wondered, _and about her. What would people say? What would people think? No, who am I kidding, who else really truly thinks anymore? Mostly people just follow their desires, their lusts and whatever everyone else is doing. But I'm thinking, and Elphaba thinks. Elphaba, she's the only person who could ever read me so easily - like a book. I have to tell her, but what if she doesn't think the same way? Why am I still thinking?_

_I can't believe I'm thinking about him,_ possessed Elphaba's mind. _It's horrible, to just take Galinda's boyfriend away like that. I couldn't cause her hurt, because, well, she's just so naiev. She doesn't know all the hurt and evil in the world, she's like an innocent little cream puff, waiting to get squished. But she needs to know, sooner or later all of us have to grow up. But I couldn't live with myself if I was the one who stole her boyfriend, it would break her little heart. But every time I'm around Fiyero, I...I feel different. Like my insides are filled with thousands of butterflies. Oh, listen to me, sounding like a silly girl with a crush on the handsome prince. He'd never have me, he's got Galinda. Then why do we keep ending up together...and alone?_

They were back outside Crage Hall now. Fiyero and Elphaba would part ways again, and already it seemed like that was asking far too much. They stood outside the door that led into the building, both nervously eying each other. Elphaba placed her hand upon the door-knob to let herself in: at the same time, Fiyero moved his own hand towards the door to open it for her. They met, pale-brown upon green, just at the knob.

They both turned their faces back to one another, gazing into each others' eyes. They were once again touching. Elphaba's hand trembled just a little beneath Fiyero's fingers: his hands were rough, but his grip was firm. The whole world seemed to come to a halt, as the two savored this moment that seemed to last forever. The young green woman felt a little warm, despite the summer night being a comfortable sixty-nine degrees. It was the Lion-cub incident all over again, just without the fiasco that started it.

All too briefly, they parted.

"Well, uh," Fiyero said, clearing his throat. "Goodnight, Elphaba."

"Goodnight, Fiyero." She longed to look back up at him, but something inside her dared refuse that desire. Fiyero nodded then walked off into the darkness, back to Ozma Towers.

Elphaba sighed, then turned back to the door. She would go to sleep and have the weekend off to rest after today's event. The concert went well, she believed.

* * *

><p><strong>(AN: A little slow, and maybe a bit repetitive, but I had to make an after-party bit since I didn't make a bit about the show.)<strong>

**(The combination of 'after' and 'party' is because the chapter adding feature won't include hyphens.)**

**(-sigh-)  
><strong>


	8. No Sleep 'Till Dixxi

**(AN: Things have gotten even more complicated than before. With my laptop taking advantage of every second to un-plug itself and power down on me, I've had to find other means to write my stories and update them. Hopefully some of you are still reading my stories and might want to review.)**

**(Here's a new chapter for this one. Borrowed some lyrics from an actual song, so let me state that I don't own BLS, that belongs to Zakk Wylde.)**

* * *

><p><strong>No Sleep 'Till Dixxi<strong>

When the new week started, Elphaba was surprised and a little shocked at the sudden inundation of people flocking to her and Galinda. She was used to people running away from her in terror, screaming or making snide comments about vegetables. Now they were walking up to her, saying they enjoyed her singing and couldn't wait for People of Oz to play in their town.

Elphaba was a little annoyed at all the fame, it made classes a chore to concentrate. But she enjoyed it all together: it was a little taste of what Oz-wide fame she would enjoy once she was the Wizard's Vizir. That was her main goal, after all: this band was just a side-project she did with her friends for fun. Though she valued the ability to preach equality through her lyrics, it would be her political position as Grand Vizir that would make the real change. To her, this all meant very little.

Others, however, were basking unashamedly in this fame. Fiyero seemed back to his usual self, Galinda was back on speaking terms with Shenshen and Pfannee, and even some of Avaric's old swagger had returned. Now he was calling People of Oz his band, and saying that it was his idea and that everything about the band came from him, that the others were just tools who played along with what he told them to do. To this, Elphaba just rolled her eyes and tried to get back to studying.

_Let him think it's that way_, she thought. _I've got a career planned out for me, unlike the rest of them._

* * *

><p>About the middle of the week, Elphaba made her way to <em>Lakely and Oakes<em> as usual. More time for band practice. Once more, Avaric was not present, and nor was Fiyero. Galinda was wearing her white uniform, leaning upon the seat of her drum kit, with the fuzzy pink sticks in her hand. At the keyboard Ramon was standing next to Milla, who was sitting with her knees together. The Raccoon was giving her several pointers on keyboard playing.

"Where are Fiyero and Avaric?" Elphaba queried.

"They said they had something to attendiate to before practice." Galinda answered, throwing up one of her sticks into the air before grabbing it between three fingers.

"Here," Elphaba said, handing her notepad to Ramon. "Some new material."

"Delightful!" Ramon commented, as he began flipping through the pages. Some of them were loose and slipped out as he skimmed through the notebook. Milla picked up one and looked it through, her mouth suddenly dropping open.

"Miss Elphaba," Milla gasped. "This is amazing! I didn't know you wrote so well."

"It's a gift, I guess." she returned, shrugging. She didn't need compliments from shallow Milla, one of Galinda's 'crew.'

"Um, excuse me," Ramon stated.

"Hmm?" Elphaba turned to the Raccoon.

"Just a thought I had here," He held up the notebook, turned to a certain page. "This line here: 'In this river, all shall fade to black. In this river, there's no coming back.'"

"Yes?" Elphaba queried.

"Well, correct me if I'm wrong," he continued. "But you're not a Unionist, are you?"

"If I had a choice, I wouldn't be."

"What do you mean?" Milla asked. "Of course we have a choice."

"I don't." Elphaba answered. "My father made certain that Nessa and I were raised strictly Unionist." She turned back to Ramon. "What are you getting at, Ramon?"

"Well, it may be nothing," the Raccoon continued. "But I was under the impression that Saint Aelphaba vanished behind a curtain of water."

"But she's a Lurlinist saint, isn't she?" Milla asked.

"From what I've discovered," Elphaba returned. "Unionist ministers assimilated many of the saints and holidays from Lurlinism to make them more appealing to the people."

"Either way," Ramon continued. "You're named after Saint Aelphaba, are you not?"

Elphaba nodded meekly.

"Well, then, I would think carefully about making a religious stance either way." Ramon said. "We don't want to alienate potential fans by taking one side or another."

"It's not about Saint Aelphaba!" she retorted. She walked over to a side of the room, sitting down with her arms wrapped around her knees, bent up under her chin. Galinda left the drum-kit and plopped herself down next to her friend.

"What's wrong?" she queried.

Elphaba shook her head, refusing to say either way.

"Is it about Fifi?" Elphaba shook her head again. "Is it about Avaric? Did he say something hurtifying again?"

"No, Galinda, he didn't!"

"Then what's bothering you?"

Elphaba sighed, turning away from the others and walking off by herself, towards the exit of _Lakely and Oakes_.

"Elphie, wait!" Galinda called back.

But Elphaba did not wait. In fact, once she was outside of the doors of _Lakely and Oakes_, she ran as fast as she could back to Crage Hall. She didn't care who saw her, she had to be alone right now. Bounding up the stairs, she threw open the door to her and Galinda's apartment and almost flew onto the bed, throwing her face into the pillows.

The tears shortly followed.

Of course her song wasn't about Saint Aelphaba. It was about something more important, dearer to her than a saint who was nothing more than a statue in a shrine in Elphaba's eyes. Even though she saw the band as a 'side project' of no importance, she had poured her heart into that song: it was about her mother dying, and the pain of losing someone. And they equated it with nothing more or less than a silly religious icon!

She realized that she had forgotten the notepad with the lyrics on it. How stupid of me, she thought, to leave that precious book to their wandering eyes. She never kept a diary, because there would be no need to be 'remembered' once she was with the Wizard: she would be immortalized in a way that a few pages of self-centered whining could never accomplish. But the way they ravaged the song with their scintillating opinions made her upset, and she didn't want them to get their hands on what else she had written.

Without even trying to dry off her eyes, Elphaba reached under her pillow, then bolted out the door. She ran as fast as she could back down the steps and across the lawn, trying to get to _Lakely and Oakes_ before they found it. She did not even watch the white-clad figure in front of her until she collided with her, sending them both sprawled out on the grass.

"Elphie!" the blond said, swinging herself up into a sitting position. "What in Oz's name is wrong with..."

"Where is it?" Elphaba shot back, sitting up from her fall.

"What, Elphie?"

"My notebook! Where is it?"

Galinda very sheepishly brought the notebook from behind her back. Elphaba snatched it out of her grip with one hand, not even saying 'thank you.'

"I saw you left it behind and thought I'd bring it back to you." Galinda stated.

"Like I believe that." Elphaba sighed.

"Honest, Elphie!" she begged. "I liked the lyrics Ramon read, but I think we judged it too soon!"

"Did you?" Elphaba returned harshly. "Do you think I'd pour my heart and soul into something I don't give a damn about?"

"I'm sorry, Elphie!"

She sighed, looking away from the little blond before her. She looked so silly, sitting there with her legs spread-eagle upon the grass, the result of their collision. For all of Galinda's silly quirks and childish behavior, Elphaba just couldn't force herself to say no to her.

"It was about my mother, that's all." she admitted.

"Elphie, I'm so sorry."

"It's no big deal, because you'll never have to see it again."

"No! That's a splendiforous song! I'd be thrillified to see us play it live!"

Elphaba turned to Galinda. "Do you really mean that?"

"Of course."

Elphaba rose to her feet and held her hand out to Galinda. The little blond reached up and took her friend's hand, who lifted her up to her feet. Galinda dusted herself off, looking down at her stockings.

"Ah, phooie!" she pouted.

"What's wrong?" Elphaba returned.

"My stockings have grass-stains all over them!" she whined. Her lower lip shot out and, from her downcast expression, Elphaba feared that Galinda was going to start crying in front of her - and over just a few grass-stains?

"It's not that bad," Elphaba returned. "We can just go back to your room and get some new stockings, okay?"

Galinda nodded, following Elphaba back to their room.

* * *

><p>In their room, Galinda was plowing through her wardrobe and the thousands of clothes she possessed. Elphaba sat meekly on the edge of her plain bed, waiting for Galinda to finish her crusade for clean, fashionable clothing.<p>

"I have a hundred pair of stockings and panty hoses," Galinda commented. "And I can't find even one that matches this outfit!"

"Can't you go without?" Elphaba asked.

"I only went without at the OzDust ballroom!" Galinda stated. She stood up from the mess she made and plopped onto the bed.

"I have a spare pair," Elphaba said. "If you want."

"Let me see what you got."

Elphaba opened her suitcase and took out the only other pair of stockings she had: plain, sheer black ones. She tossed them at Galinda, who held them out to her scrutiny.

"Ugh," she groaned. "Black? Haven't you got any other color?"

"I'm wearing my blue stockings right now, so no." Elphaba returned.

Galinda sighed in frustration again.

Just then, there was a knock at the door.

"Who is it?" Galinda sang out.

"It's Milla." the wee voice called from the other side. "Can I come in?"

Galinda bounced off her bed and walked over to the door, flinging it open.

"I don't know if you've noticed," Milla said. "But Fiyero and that Raccoon are outside, climbing the wall."

Elphaba groaned in frustration. "I'm gonna push him off the wall!"

"Elphie!"

"Your boyfriend needs to stop sneaking into Crage Hall!" Elphaba returned. "We're gonna get caught!"

"Not if you don't keep quiet!"

The window was pushed open and the three ladies saw Fiyero and Ramon crawl into the building. It was Fiyero who had spoken. Galinda threw the black stockings back to Elphaba as the young man and the Raccoon took seats on the floor.

"Sit up here, Fifi!" Galinda said, patting a spot of her bed next to her. Fiyero complied, much to Galinda's satisfaction.

"What's so important that you had to follow us into Crage Hall and get us all in trouble?" Elphaba asked.

"We have wonderful news!" Ramon stated. "I think you should tell them, Fiyero."

"Tell us what, dearest?" Galinda queried.

"Oh, just a little something like..." Fiyero said, beating around the bush to keep his audience eager. "...a show at a little place called Dixxi House."

Galinda squealed and Elphaba gasped.

"Not the Dixxi House, the closest town to Shiz!" Milla queried.

"The same!" Fiyero added.

"When?" Elphaba asked.

"Later this May."

"And how are we getting there?" Elphaba asked.

"I've chartered a wagon train to take us there." Fiyero said. "That's why I wasn't at practice today."

"Oh my Oz!" Galinda squealed. "This is the bestest news ever!"

"What kind of venues do they have at Dixxi?" Millia asked.

"Oh, they have several." Ramon said. "A lot bigger, actually, than the Philosophy Club."

Elphaba smiled. This was definitely a step-up. She couldn't wait to play their next biggest show.

"Yero, I'm surprised!" she commented. She then rose up and grabbed his collar. "Now get out of here before we get caught!"

She herself was surprised that she could have touched him again and yet had her insides not going to jelly. Fortunately, she grabbed only his collar and not any of his flesh. That made her a little more comfortable.

"Well, okay then." he said with a smirk. He and Ramon left, and Elphaba and Galinda did not get into the least bit of trouble.

* * *

><p>The days flew by and soon April was half-way over. Madam Morrible had not yet heard back from the Wizard, and told Elphaba to remain patient and continue "making good", and that she would not go unnoticed for much longer. Elphaba believed it, and held true that the Wizard would see to Madam Morrible's letter as soon as he could: after all, he must be a busy man, what with his duty to make Oz wonderful.<p>

During those days, Elphaba noticed that Galinda became increasingly more moodified than usual. Her only solace was the drum-set, which she seemed to be playing with a renewed vigor and strength, especially when Elphaba was around. Pfannee and Shenshen had gone back to wherever in Upper Gilikin they lived, with the promise to come to every show to cheer Galinda and _The People of Oz_ on from the front-row.

As the spring semester came to a close, Elphaba also noticed that there were not many people who were staying over for the summer semester. She had written a letter to Father, explaining that she was doing "abroad work" for the head-mistress of Shiz. It was a bold-faced lie, but she knew how he'd respond if he knew the truth. He told her bluntly to 'stay out of trouble', more like a weary refrain from one who thought that Elphaba and trouble were the best friends ever. Elphaba sometimes wondered if he would even miss her if she just up and left one day.

Of course he'd miss her - who else would take care of Nessa? But she couldn't take her sister with her, she had to go back to Munchkinland. So she bade Nessarose good-bye and made sure that Father had hired the best nannies and governesses in Munchkinland to take care of Nessarose while her elder sister was off doing Oz knows what in Upper Gilikin.

A devious smile came across Elphaba's face as the thought of her sudden freedom.

* * *

><p>May first rolled around the corner, and a long line of dusty, weather-beaten wagons appeared along the cobble-stone streets of Shiz early that morning, ere the rising of the sun. Elphaba Thropp, an early riser and a light-sleeper at that, saw the arrival early as she sat by the window with a book - <em>Ozma: Savior or Tyrant?<em> - on her lap. A look of pleased surprise shot across Elphaba's face and she walked over to the other side of the room.

The pink side.

"Galinda, wake up!" Elphaba said. A noncommittal groan came from beneath the sea of blond hair propped atop a dozen throw-pillows.

"Come on, Galinda! Rise and shine!" Elphaba gave her room-mate a gentle nudge.

"Leamme alone, Momsy!" Galinda muttered drowsily. "Popsicle said I could sleep in today!"

"It's your room-mate!" Elphaba added, striking Galinda playfully with her one, bland-looking pillow. "Wake up!"

Almost the moment she hit Galinda with the pillow, an all-too familiar rapping was heard at the glass window. Elphaba scurried over and saw Ramon standing on the outside window sill.

"I say," the Raccoon began. "I'm sorry to disturb you, ladies, but Fiyero sent me to tell you that the wagon train has arrived. We leave at seven o'clock."

"What time is it now?" Elphaba queried.

"Three past six." Ramon stated.

"Okay, we'll be right down." Elphaba returned. "What about our instruments?"

"Oh, Fiyero, Avaric and Boq went down to _Lakely and Oakes_ to pick them up."

Elphaba nodded, and Ramon darted back down the side of the building. It was amazing just how high he could crawl across a veritable flat surface. Elphaba then turned back to Galinda.

"Wake up, sleepy head!" she nigh shouted. "We've gotta pack."

"Pack?" Galinda queried, her blond curls all a tangle about her head. "Where are we going?"

"Where else? Dixxi House!"

* * *

><p>Since Elphaba was up already, and since she would take the least amount of time in the bathroom, she went first and let Galinda pack her things. She moved about very slothfully, and was, as usual, taking a lot of stuff that she didn't need. It seemed like she did not get very much packing done before Elphaba was done in the bathroom, already throwing her traveling clothes on: her white-blouse and blue-skirt school uniform. She didn't have much - just the blue under-skirt frock, the blue jacket, blouse and skirt for her uniform (and matching beanie), the white blouse and her dress clothes, all of which were black (aside, of course, from under-garments). Galinda slowly sauntered towards the bathroom while Elphaba began double-checking everything in her suitcase. She stuffed the tall-peaked hat, the one Galinda gave her that night before the OzDust Ballroom dance, in with the clothes. Even though it had been the butt of a cruel and painful joke, Elphaba liked it for what it was. Next, of course, came a travel case for her glasses. Her vision was not so terrible that she relied on her glasses like an Illswater fish relied water, but she had trouble seeing things from afar without them. Lastly she placed into the suitcase the little green bottle from out of her hand.<p>

A curious desire came over Elphaba to try some of the mesmerizing green liquid out. Just a small drop wouldn't kill her.

Or would it?

Galinda began singing loudly from the bathroom, though Elphaba would rather not know what she was doing in there. Probably painting her nails or doing something painful to her hair that would make it look pretty later on. As much as Galinda was like an innocent little 'cream-puff', Elphaba had to admit that she had some courage to endure all the painful things that young women, like Galinda and Elphaba's sister Nessarose, did to themselves to look pretty.

Maybe just a little bit?

"Hey, Galinda?" Elphaba queried. "While you're taking your time in there, mind if I help you with your packing? I'm already done."

"That would be splendiforous!" Galinda sang from the shower. Usually she did not like packing by herself and had Pfannee and Shenshen, or some other friends from long before, accessorize all her things if she needed packing.

"Now," Elphaba called back, as she began rummaging through a single suitcase. "I'm thinking less is more, okay? You don't want to carry a lot of stuff and then be stuck carrying it all."

"Oh nonsense!" Galinda returned. "Milla and Biq can help me with my luggage."

"But they've got their own luggage." Elphaba returned. "Plus, how many of these outfits are you actually going to wear?"

"Well," Galinda called out. "The pink party frock I'm wearing on-stage, but I'll need something fancier for the next show. It's such a fashion no no to wear the same dress twice, or be a copy-cat. So the matching silver-sparkly heels gotta go with it. Oh, must bring my earrings and my necklace...the ones that match the pink frock. I'm sure they're labeled on the box. I guess the yellow dress can go with, so the yellow heels as well. And don't you dare let me forget my pink-beaded hand-bag, or the yellow one that goes with the yellow dress! I will kill myself if I forget those!"

"Why do you need two hand-bags, Galinda?" Elphaba sighed.

"Two?" Galinda laughed. "Who'd only bring two? I need one to match each one of my outfits! The pink-beaded one goes with the party frock and the yellow one goes with the yellow dress. I keep all my stuff in it: my mirror, my lipstick, my eye-shadow, my powders, my brush, my mascara and any loose change I might need. It's worth my life!"

Elphaba rolled her eyes.

"Well don't take too long, okay?" she returned. "It's six fifteen and you're _still_ not ready yet."

"Don't rush me, Elphie!"

A knock sounded at the door. Elphaba walked over and opened it up. Milla was standing in the doorway, wearing a simple blue traveling dress with a blue jacket lined with white stripes.

"Here," Elphaba said to Milla, pointing to the large stack of clothing by Galinda's wardrobe. "You're a girly girl. Arrange Galinda's stuff for her while I get mine packed onto the wagons already. And please, for Oz's sake, only pack what she needs, not everything she asks for."

Milla nodded a little sheepishly, and Elphaba departed the room, taking her suitcase with her. Once she was gone, a very perturbed Galinda ran on tip-toe out of the bathroom, green refreshing mask on her face, her hair bound beneath a towel and drying nail-polish on her fingers, and almost screamed with fright.

"_You better not leave out my make-up or so help me Oz, I will **strangle** you!_"

* * *

><p>A fully dressed and packed Elphaba made her way out of Crage Hall and toward the long line of wagons arrayed out in front of the building. The sun was peaking its golden head from the tops of the Madeleines across to the east, shedding just enough light to see. An odd assortment of people were gathered here, from Munchkin farmers, Glikkus miners, travelers from Upper Gilikin and the Emerald City, as well as several dwarves as well. Elphaba saw the tall Winkie prince and the brash Gilikin brat loading the instruments onto one of the wagons. Boq sat on the side-lines, rejected from his various offers to help. When he saw Elphaba, he gave his usual cry of surprise at seeing her. This got the attention of the other two.<p>

"We're not gonna wait for the ladies, artichoke!" Avaric said as he tossed one of the drums to Fiyero, who was up on top of the wagon, making sure everything was assembled properly.

"Don't mind him!" a voice called out cheerfully. Elphaba saw Ramon poke his black-snout out from the side of the wagon. "He's cranky because he had to wake up early."

"Wouldn't our 'handsome prince Fiyero' also be grumpy?" Elphaba asked with much sarcasm. "After all, he's the 'scandalacious' prince who sleeps during the day, isn't he?"

"Hey, it wasn't my idea to wake up this early, Elphaba." Fiyero said. "The lady who runs this wagon train said she'd pass through Shiz briefly between six and seven. Says she won't pass through here until the fall, or next year, likely." He looked back at Crage Hall. "Say, is Galinda up yet?"

"She's taking her sweet time getting ready." Elphaba returned.

"Good." Fiyero said. Though why he said it, he did not know. It surely wasn't by thought, for he didn't feel like thinking at that moment. It just sort of came out...naturally. Like it was the right thing to say.

"Good?" Elphaba asked. "I thought we were on a tight schedule."

"It's not even six thirty yet," Avaric returned. "Don't get your damn panties in a wad."

She made a rude gesture in his direction, though he did not see it.

"What about Ramon?"

"What about me, Elphaba?"

"Is...you know..." She didn't know how to say it. After all, how _do_ you ask if someone is 'okay' with letting an Animal on their wagon train while in the presence of an Animal? She knew all about prejudice the 'normal people' had against those who were different, and she knew how it would definitely hurt him. "Well, I mean...is the owner...or driver...of the wagon train...uh..."

"I've already asked." Ramon answered, divining her question. "She said that as long as they pay, she doesn't matter who rides her wagon. Amoral and indifferent, I might state, but it's better than some."

Elphaba nodded, feeling a little ashamed at having spoken as much as she had.

"Uh," she said, deciding to change the subject. "Do we have everything on there?"

"Yep," Fiyero returned. "We've got the drum-set, the amps, the keyboard, the microphone and your PA. My stuff and Avaric's are already in. Ramon says he doesn't have much, so we're just waiting on you girls."

Elphaba passed her suit-case up to Fiyero, who deposited it among the other bags.

"Which wagon are we riding in?"

"Fiyero and I have pooled our considerable resources together," Avaric said with pride, trying to sound important and sophisticated. "And acquired three wagons. No need to worry your green head about that." Elphaba made a face at him.

"I've got this wagon for the stuff," Fiyero said, indicating to the one he was in. "Me, Av, Boq and Ramon are in one and you ladies can be the in the other.

"Where are we going to sleep?" Elphaba asked.

"Ask the head of the wagon train." Fiyero said, pointing toward the front. "She's that way."

Elphaba walked off in the direction Fiyero had indicated, with Avaric walking after her. He wasn't trying anything, it seemed. He had something else on his mind.

At the head of the wagon train was a middle-aged woman in very rugged, weather-beaten clothing.

"E-Excuse?" Elphaba asked. The woman took one look and almost jumped off her wagon in shock.

"My, my, there!" she coughed. "No sense in scaring ol' Oastie Manglehand half-to-death like that! You'd be without the best guide in all 'a Gilikin, that's for sure!"

"Miss Manglehand," Elphaba began. "Where are we sleeping?"

"We camp every night," Oastie returned. "Where we sleep is wherever we're at at the time."

"Pardon me," Avaric interjected, trying to sound a little more important. "I was just wondering if I could ride in a _separate_ car than the other band members."

"Huh? What's that?" Oastie queried. "Didn't the wild boy say you only needed three?"

"Yes, yes," Avaric returned. "But I will not ride in a carriage with...a _Raccoon!_"

"Then you gotta pay for the extra cab." Oastie answered flatly.

"Pay?" Avaric cried out. "This is outrageous! I shouldn't have to pay when I've already paid for riding on this train of vagabonds and brigands."

"If you want another car, boy," Oastie said flatly. "You pay for it. Otherwise, you can walk for all I care. And watch what you say about my wagon train! Vagabonds and brigands indeed!"

Elphaba tried hard to supress a smile. So much for Avaric's considerable resources if he wasn't going to pay up for another wagon. Elphaba walked over to Avaric and playfully teased him.

"Don't worry," she smiled. "I'll make sure Ramon won't bite you."

"Go jump off a cliff, cabbage." was his answer.

* * *

><p>It was almost seven by the time Galinda and Milla emerged from Crage Hall, five suitcases between the two of them. Galinda only carried one small one, whereas Milla had two heavy ones in each hand and two beneath her arms - all of them belonging to <em>G. Upland<em>. Fiyero and Avaric double-timed the packing of the last packages and sent the ladies off to their wagon while the four gentlemen made their way to theirs.

"Oh, isn't it wonderful?" Galinda squealed. "We're going on tour!"

Elphaba nodded, a little sickened by Galinda's usual spastic behavior. She turned to Milla and received an awkward smile from her.

Once the hour struck seven, the wagons kicked off and Shiz began rolling past them.

_Next stop_, Elphaba thought. _Dixxi House!_

* * *

><p><strong>(AN: Sorry it took so long to update this. Hopefully you like it)<strong>

**(There is a reason for Fiyero acting all "responsible" with this band, I just haven't revealed it yet. Any other ideas or thoughts that might work for later chapters? Please, submit them in your reviews - if you're still out there, reviewing.)**

**(Still mainly musical-verse, but have incorporated book elements to flesh it out [feel like I've said this before]. Oatsie is such an element.)**

**(In regards to an unpublished story from _Wicked_ that I originally was working on, I have decided to incorporate the other elements into this story, but keep _The Trials of Boq and Nessa_ separate, which I shall upload once I have gotten more done with some of my other stories. Who wants to read _TToBaN_?)**

**(Btw, title does _not_ come from _Beastie Boys_' "No Sleep 'Till Brooklyn." There's plenty of other songs/live albums that begin with those three words, like _Motorhead_'s "No Sleep 'Till Hammersmith". It's a usual live thing, and therefore thought it might work)  
><strong>


	9. Rocking Dixxi House

**(AN: Long time no see, _Wicked_-fans. That's because my recent _Wicked_ project, _Of Saints and Sinners_, really dragged on forever and I lost a little interest in _Wicked_ fan-fics [at least my own]. But I've decided to bring back another one, and hopefully none too late)**

**(Will try to get some interesting sub-plots going, as well as build Milla's character, since she really has no depth in _Wicked_.)  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Rocking Dixxi House<strong>

Any preconceived notions that they might have had that made them think that riding around in a wagon-train would be fun were shattered after that first day of travel in Oatsie's wagon-train. They bounced and jostled their way across the Gilikin Highlands, trapped in the stuffy wagon cars with no one but boredom to be their companion. The other passengers didn't pay much attention to them: they were just a bunch of wild teenagers, what did they matter?

In the boys' wagon, at the far end of the train, Boq slept on, possibly day-dreaming about having a glorious date with the lovely Galinda, who spoke his name correctly and was willing to shower his round, beaming face with kisses. Ramon was busy looking at a map and jotting down words and musical notes. Both Fiyero and Avaric were dead asleep: they were not morning people and it had taken pretty much all of their energy to stay up for the packing. Avaric was the first one out, so Fiyero walked over to the farthest wagon and took out his guitar. He strummed away, hoping to one day be good enough to be more than just a bassist.

In the end, he fell asleep with the guitar in his lap.

In the girls' wagon, Galinda was snoring away loudly, her head leaning on Elphaba's shoulder. The shy green girl had her nose in her note-book, into which she was writing new lyrics and new songs. Across from her, trying to keep quiet and avoiding the green woman's hazel brown eyes, Milla sat in very uncomfortable silence: sometimes biting her lower lip, or her finger-nails, or pretending to read just to keep her eyes off Elphaba.

In this manner, the _People of Oz_ rode north from Gilikin. Only Ramon or Galinda knew for certain how long it would be from Shiz to Dixxi House, but the boys were all asleep and Galinda herself was snoring loudly.

After almost two hours on the road, Milla finally had the courage to put her book down and venture a few words at the green girl.

"Does she always snore like that?" she asked, indicating to the wee Galinda.

"All the time," Elphaba returned formally, not even lifting her eyes from off the pages of the note-book in which she was riding.

Milla nodded, pleased that she got an answer. But the awkward silence, broken only by the murmuring rumble of the wagon wheels, continued on between them.

"Um," Milla said at last, her upper jaw clenched awkwardly upon her lower lip. "I think, uh, maybe we got off on a bad start."

"Uh-huh," Elphaba returned.

"Hello," Milla held out her hand. "My name is Milla Moray."

Elphaba said nothing, her eyes transfixed on the note-book.

"Sorry," Milla pouted. "Just trying to be friendly."

Elphaba placed the note-book down with an hair of annoyance.

"Look," she said. "We both know you don't mean it, so save me the annoyance of listening to your lies."

"But it's the truth!" Milla returned.

"The _truth_," Elphaba bit back. "Is that you're just another air-headed, shallow, giggling little high society girl who longs for nothing more than to be shackled to some handsome suave who will only stay with you as long as your looks last." Without another word, Elphaba returned to her note-book.

Milla felt deeply hurt by Elphaba's comment. But she was not entirely sure why. Maybe it was because of her tone, or because what she said was untrue...

Or because what she said _was_ true...

* * *

><p>There would only be one camp-fire stop on this journey, or so Oatsie told them. Dixxi House was not so far away from Shiz that it would take a journey of many days or weeks to reach it, like the wild Vinkus (though travelers persist that the distance to reach the Vinkus varies, with some finding the journey a thing of days upon days, while others have done the same in only one), but they would still have to rest for the night.<p>

The _People of Oz_ were told, by Oatsie, to stay within the camp-ground. The threat of wild creatures or even feral Animals, she said, was too great to allow anyone to go wandering off on their own at night. Elphaba noted that the middle-aged wagon driver looked at _them_ as she spoke those last few words. Maybe it was in her mind, as in the mind of all elders - to some degree of truth - that once a group of young men and women, in the flower of youth and emotionally charged, got together outside of paternal or chaperoned guidance, they would walk off into the nearest bush and start fooling around.

As the shadows grew longer and the sun went down behind the Great Kells in the distance, the _People of Oz_ were enjoying a little respite from the bumpy, uncomfortable rides of the carriages. Fiyero, Avaric and Ramon were together, around a camp-fire, enjoying some of the food they had brought, while Boq was, typically, trying to get Galinda's attention. Elphaba sat on Galinda's left, thoughtfully eying the fire, her mind somewhere else.

It was silly, the way adults always thought that youngsters would start having sex once they were free of their guardians. Of course, in Elphaba's mind, it was quite silly. From the way that people were so shocked by her appearance, she doubted not that even a lecherous rogue of the alleys would think twice about having his way with her, much less any other boy. Since sex was never an option in her mind, Elphaba devoted herself to her studies. She was, in fact, quite clueless about 'how things worked', or 'the birds and the bees' as Munchkin midwives would often say.

Looking at the little blond to her right, she decided that even Galinda had no idea. Of course she didn't. Who could honestly, with such a vapid attachment to reality, devoted only to looking pretty and dating all the handsome young men, know about consequences and their affects? The very word 'consequence', Elphaba thought, was unheard of in Galinda's vocabulary of fancy Gilikinese words.

The boys, on the other hand, were probably just full of hot air. She guessed that Avaric was, at least, and definitely Boq. Ramon, being the eldest member of the band, most likely knew about it, and might have even had a family and some cute baby Raccoons a long time ago. The thought of the little masked baby Raccoons made Elphaba smile.

Fiyero...her thoughts drifted when she came to Fiyero. She found herself not thinking about his past life and what he might have 'experienced', but how he appeared to her in the present. He had become suddenly responsible, what with this whole band thing. But he still outwardly projected the brash, happy-go-lucky young prince that she had taken him to be.

_Oz, stop thinking about him!_ she told herself.

While they were talking, a Gilikinese couple approached their fire. It seemed there were no other places open among the many camp-fires dotting the wagon-train, so they chose this one. Though they started to regret that decision once they sat down, and saw the little Animal and the green-skinned woman.

"So," the gentleman said. He looked almost as old as Elphaba's father, with gray frosting the dark of his hair and beard. "Did you miss the train back from Shiz?"

"No," Fiyero said. "We're actually in a band."

"Oh, that's interesting." his wife, a mousy-haired woman of thirty five, stated. Though she did not look very thrillified.

"We're going to play at Dixxi House." Fiyero continued. Elphaba merely watched the exchange. The gentleman, seeing the green woman looking at him, suddenly became uncomfortable.

"Uh," he said. "Hi there!"

"I'm not going to eat you, if that's what you're thinking." Elphaba returned, rolling her eyes back as she spoke.

"I didn't think that!" the gentleman lied. "I mean, it's not everyday you get to see someone so...so..."

"Special!" the woman said with an uneasy smile.

"I was going for green." the man muttered to his wife.

Elphaba rolled her eyes, not wanting to hear this boring, offensive conversation already.

"So," Fiyero asked. "What's got you going to Dixxi House?"

"We were on a business trip in the Glikkus," the woman said. "We're actually from Brox Hall."

"Too poor to take the train?" Avaric asked.

"That's none of your business!" the man snapped.

"Magpie, please."

"Well, it _isn't_!"

Avaric snorted.

"You think something's funny, sunshine?"

"Yeah, the fact that you're called Magpie."

"And what better name do _you_ have, pretty boy?"

Avaric looked over at Fiyero and mouthed something that Elphaba could not see.

"Avaric," he returned with an air of pride. "Avaric Tenmeadows."

"Avaric," Magpie repeated. "Derived from the word 'avarice', meaning that you let money, fame and the desire for power rule you."

"Is that so bad?"

"Of course not," Magpie returned. "I personally think that anyone with an inclination to do good should be locked away in the Southstairs for all time."

"Honey!"

"It's totally unnatural!"

"Please forgive my husband," the woman said. "He's a philosopher of sorts."

"Pity he's so closed-minded." Elphaba muttered.

"And what's your name, miss artichoke?"

"Is that _really_ the best you can do?"

"Actually..."

"It's Elphaba." she said, not willing to speak her last name.

"Oh Oz," Magpie sighed, his eyes rolling in exaggerated exasperation. "Not another scripture-thumping radical Unionist fanatic, ready to die and kill for the Unnamed God."

"No," Elphaba spat back.

"Well," he shrugged. "At least you're not a _total_ loss."

There was a moment of eerie silence.

"Excuse me, Mr. Magpie?" Fiyero asked.

"It's Mr. Gregor," he corrected.

"Sorry, Mr. Gregor. Have you ever been to Dixxi House?"

"Several times, actually." he began. "It's rather something: one of the testaments to Gilikinese industry. Though all of Gilikin insists on saying that Red Sand is actually a separate town, I'm certain it's actually just the northern part of Dixxi House: it's a conspiracy, I say."

"Magpie, please. No conspiracy theories tonight."

"They're true! Every one of them. For instance," he leaned in toward the _People of Oz_, deluding himself into thinking he had a captivated audience. "Did you know that the Deadly Desert isn't all that deadly? It's just a conspiracy to regulate migration into Ev. Or have you heard that there might not even _be_ a Wizard of Oz?"

"I can't take much more of this!" Elphaba sighed.

"It's true!" Magpie insisted. "No one's_ ever_ seen him, no one knows what he looks like and nobody's ever been inside of the Emerald Palace, or ever come out of it since its construction. If you know what I think, I think there _is_ no Wizard, just a bunch of clever politicians and Unionist bishops spreading fear and propaganda to the people of Oz to make them obey what they want."

"It's a lie!" Elphaba shouted. "It's not true! It-It can't be."

She walked away, toward the wagon.

"Oh, did I hurt the cabbage's feelings?" Magpie called back as Elphaba walked away.

Unbeknown to her, Galinda was hot on her trail.

"Elphie, what's wrong?" she asked.

"It's that loud-mouth old man!" she hissed, pointing at Magpie Gregor, who was now leaving their camp-fire to hang out with a group of rather drunk-looking young men from Frottica. "How _dare_ he say such things about the Wizard! It's nothing but lies!"

"Elphie..."

"The Wizard is making all of Oz wonderful!" she exclaimed. "The Emerald City unites us as never before and the Yellow Brick Road has made passage between Munchkinland and Gilikin safe and efficient. He...he just _has_ to be real!"

"Don't pay any attention to what he said, okay?" Galinda said.

"You don't understand!"

"You're right, I don't. So tell me what's wrong!"

Elphaba swallowed hard, then turned back to her friend and thus began.

"It's this," she walked over to the wagon, and removed her suit-case. She opened it up and after rummaging through it, picked out an unmarked letter. Galinda recognized it as one that she had seen Elphaba receive from the Shiz post-office that day before they went to the _Emerald Trader_.

"What is it?"

"A letter from Dr. Dillamond," Elphaba stated. Galinda gasped.

"What does it say?"

"Not much," Elphaba began. "He just wanted to say hi to his favorite student, and wish me luck with my studies. He's still speaking out for Animal Rights and equality, but he also says he's been on the run since he got back to his home in West Gilikin. The police have evicted him from his house: gave him three days to move to the Animal ghetto outside of town or they'd put him in jail."

"Oh, Elphie!"

"Not much else. But there's this..." She handed the letter to Galinda, who noted the tiny scrawl toward the end of the last paragraph.

_It is becoming more and more difficult for me to keep my faith in the Wizard, when he seems quite indifferent to the atrocities that are going on under his very nose. I am almost persuaded to believe that there _is_ no Wizard, or that _he_ is the cause of these events. I am going in secret to the Emerald City to visit His Ozness and discover the truth for myself._

"Oh, Elphie! I didn't know..."

"I haven't heard from him since." Elphaba admitted.

"I'm so sorry."

"No, don't be." Elphaba returned, sighing. "We're going to Dixxi House, that's all matters."

Galinda knew that was not _all_ that mattered to Elphaba's mind, yet she did not wish to annoy her friend by pestering her, and so left.

_Let her go_, she thought. _Dixxi House is all that matters. Once we're there, we'll show them just how we're never going to be silent, and how we've _still_ got a voice of our own. And the Wizard will hear of this, and the bans will cease._

_I hope_.

* * *

><p>The morning dawned a little too early for some of them. Oatsie's wagon-hands had to come along and make sure everyone was up and ready for the journey to their first stop on today's trail. Elphaba and Ramon were the first ones up, with the others following one by one.<p>

As the girls were piling into their wagon, Milla pulled herself up onto the wagon's flat bed.

"Where were you last night?" Elphaba asked.

"Why do _you_ care?"

Elphaba didn't know what to say, nor was she in the mood for more conversation. This snobby little biddy was beneath her, no better than Shenshen and Pfannee. It didn't matter what she thought of her, because Elphaba knew she was right about her.

A pang of guilt struck Elphaba as the wagons kicked off to a start. Why was she putting Milla through this? She knew what it was like to bear the judgmental glances of immature people from her earliest memories all the way up to Shiz. And here _she_ was, passing judgment on Milla by reason of who she socialized with. What about 'maybe some people are different', or not judging people at first glances?

She had misjudged Galinda, that she knew. Beneath all of that makeup, all the bubbly mannerisms and all the flirtatious and childish behavior, there hid a genuinely good person, one who actually gave at least half of a care. Though that part was buried deep, deep _deep_ down inside, she knew it was there: she had seen it that night after the OzDust.

Did Milla have a nicer, soft side, one that she kept hidden for fear of what Pfannee and Shenshen, and the rest of the world, might think?

Elphaba would have to figure that out, and it meant going back to the start all over again with her.

* * *

><p>Shiz was once Oz's capital, in the days before what would later be called 'the Emerald City' was built. Even so, the town of Dixxi House was fondly referred to as the gateway to Gilikin. Situated on the southern bank of the Gilikin River, it also housed the largest train-station in all of Oz, even greater than the fabled Emerald Train Station. A bridge or two spanned the River, connecting Dixxi House with the town on the northern bank: Red Sand. Though these two were often collectively referred to as one town, they were actually two different towns.<p>

But the Dixxi House-Red Sand collective town was not only the gateway to Gilikin in name, it was the Gateway in actuality as well. The many inventions brought about by the Wizard, such as the rail-way, made the two towns flourish. The Dixxi-Sand Train Station, as it was often called, connected Dixxi House and Red Sand with the towns of Gilikin as far west as the Pertha Hills, as far north as Mount Runcible, and as far east as the Glikkus, as well as the main body that now ran its course down to Shiz (which the _People of Oz_ were unable to board on this little journey).

The wagon caravan pulled up outside the train station, where most of the visitors to Dixxi-Sand were dropped off. Having already paid Oatsie at the beginning of their venture, they simply removed their goods from the back of the wagon and removed themselves. Many of the other people also were getting off while they were unloading.

"So," Ramon spoke up. "That was surprisingly uneventful."

"Uneventful?" Elphaba asked.

"Yes," he continued. "I don't remember ever coming this far north without _something_ happening."

"Uh, Fifi?" Galinda asked.

"Hmm?"

"Where are we playing?"

"Yes, 'Fifi'," Avaric mocked. "Just where _are_ we playing?"

"Shut up."

"Make me."

"It's over there!" Ramon stated, pointing to a building of red brick. "He showed me the flier when he booked this place."

They nodded and then began to pick up their things and make for the building. Well, _almost_ all of them did so. Galinda just bounced about in place, watching as they picked up their instruments, amps and suitcases and made for the building.

"Isn't anyone gonna help me with my things?" she pouted.

"Excuse me?"

Galinda turned around and found herself face-to-face with a stranger. Though he was not extraordinarily handsome, there was something about his face that made Galinda feel like a thousand butterflies were buzzing about inside her.

"Uh-uh..." she muttered, her mouth gaping open.

"Were you looking for something?" Elphaba asked, standing in for her friend.

The young man gave a start at seeing the green person before him.

"Elphie," Galinda hissed at her friend.

"What?" the green woman whispered.

"Would you please just go over with the others for a moment?"

"And leave you alone with this..."

"No buts, Elphie! Go!"

"But..."

"Go!" She practically pushed her aside, and then turned to the young man, standing up just a little bit straighter on her high-heels and giving her curls a toss.

"Yes, darli...I mean, yes, sir?"

"Uh," the young man said, momentarily lost. "I was just w-wondering if...if you need a hand...w-with your stuff." He pointed to the five suitcases and the many pieces of her drum-kit that were deposited around her.

"Would you?" Galinda returned. "That would be so helpful!"

The young man addressed himself to two of the large suitcases and somehow wedged one of the cymbals beneath his arm while Galinda picked up nothing but led him toward the large, red-brick building.

"_Red House_?" he asked. "You're staying there?"

"I guess." she returned.

"But that's not exactly a hotel," he continued. "More like a conference center, a ballroom, dance, music hall thing."

"Oh, we're in a band!" she added.

"Really?"

"Yes," she stated. "Oh, sweet Oz!" she stopped.

"What?"

She spun around on her heels, losing her balance for a moment and falling right onto the young man, her hands upon his shoulders.

"I just remembered something!" she gasped.

"That your nails are digging into my shoulders?"

"Are they? Oh, I'm sorries!" she stood back up on her feet. "I forgot to introduce myself."

"Oh, yeah. Same here." He held out his hand. "Hi! My name's Nicolas."

"Hello, Nicolas," she grabbed his hand and shook it. "I'm Galinda Upland, and that's..."

"_Ga_linda, with a _ga_." they finished together in unison.

Galinda gasped.

"You're the heiress of the Arduenna clan?"

"How did you know?"

"Well," he looked down, scratching the back of his neck. "My family has been..." he cleared his throat. "Rather interested in Gilikin aristocracy."

"Yeah, that's interesting," she dismissed. "Listen, why don't _you_ come to the show tonight?"

"Oh," he said. "I've got to get back to our hotel. My parents will be furious if I don't show up sooner or later." Galinda's face fell. "Hey, maybe I can sneak out later and come to the show anyhow."

"That would be splendiforous!"

"Uh," Nicolas stated, looking back at a middle-aged couple waving him over. "I gotta go. It was nice meeting you, Galinda."

"You too, Nicolas! Toodles!"

As he left, Galinda found herself once again alone and with no help in getting her things into the building.

"Milla! Bick!" she called out.

* * *

><p><em>Red House<em> was a building on the water-front of the Gilikin River, hence it shared its name from Dixxi House and Red Sand. As they walked in, Elphaba's heart leapt as she saw the posters with the words _People of Oz_ appearing live.

Once they were inside, they saw a room that was at least twice the size of the OzDust Ballroom. Right now, the house-lights were on and they saw just how huge this room was. Large columns supported the ceiling and, for the present, there was nothing in this huge room except for them...

And the stage.

In the middle of the room, an arena-style stage of wood had been erected. Avaric let out a cry of genuine satisfaction.

"Yes!" he said. "This is it! The _big_ time. This room is gonna be filled with people, all chanting my name, and here I'll be, on center stage!"

"_Our_ names, you mean." Fiyero added.

"Once they see me shine, it will be _my_ name that's on their lips!"

Like a kid at Lurlinemas, Avaric jumped onto the stage and instantly began looking for the nearest electrical outlet to plug his amp into.

"We got here on time, it seems." Fiyero said. "We can have our sound-check, tune up, practice, maybe even write a new song or two."

"Excellent!" Ramon said as he climbed onto the stage. "I've written some new material during our journey."

"Hey, Avaric," Elphaba said, pulling herself into a sitting position on the edge of the stage. "I wouldn't get my hopes up if I were you. This stage has no back, so there'll be no place to shove Ramon and I if you want to hog the spot-light."

"Oh, I'm so happy, not even _you_ can bring me down!" he exclaimed. To Elphaba's sudden surprise, and Fiyero's supreme disgust, Avaric kissed the green woman on the cheek. She tried to hit him with her fist, but he was quick and evaded her attempts.

"Where will we stay?" she asked, after calming down a little.

"Stay?" Fiyero asked.

"Well, yeah." she added. "You _did_ manage to find us a hotel, didn't you?"

"Uh...hotel?"

"Don't play dumb, Tiggular!" Avaric butt in. "Did you get us a place to stay or not?"

"I guess I forgot." he added.

"You guess you forgot to plan someplace for us to _sleep_ tonight?" Elphaba shouted.

"Hey! Don't get on my case! I'm not exactly a big-thinker!"

"Well_ that's_ no surprise!"

"You said it, greenie."

"Shut up, Avaric."

"Bite me, Thropp!"

While they were talking, Galinda bounced into the large hall, with Milla and Boq following after her, suitcases and pieces of her drum-set in hand. These they placed down and ran back for more, leaving Galinda with the rest of the band proper.

"Who was that guy you were so obviously flirting with?" Elphaba asked.

"No one!" Galinda blushed. "Keep your long nose out of it, Elphie! It's none of your business!"

"I can put my 'beak-shaped nose' wherever I want," Elphaba stated with sarcasm, recalling an old insult Galinda had thrown at her to Shenshen and Pfannee's supreme delight. "Besides, you have a boyfriend."

Galinda's face turned down towards the floor.

"Don't you?"

She didn't say anything, but walked up on stage, sat in the middle, and plumped down by herself. Elphaba bit her lip, trying to figure out why Galinda was acting so moody.

* * *

><p>The day wore on, with the band setting up their sound system and doing various checks with the technicians who were overseeing the show. Galinda pounded out the drum-beat on her kit, played fills at various speeds and tempos, but she didn't really feel happy as she played.<p>

She was too busy thinking about everything that had happened since Fiyero had come to Shiz. It was the Gilikinese custom, more or less, that when two people could finish each other's sentences, or have the same thought that they could speak them at the same time, it meant either two things: one, that they were identical twins. Two, that they were soul-mates, deserving of each other.

She recalled when she first met Fiyero, it was like harmony, the way they understood each other. Then she heard Fiyero and Elphaba speak like that, and her world was suddenly crashing all around her. Then there was that handsome young Nicolas; she thought he was handsome, and they certainly could think the same thoughts, it seemed. But she didn't want to give up on Fiyero, he was still her boyfriend.

Wasn't he?

* * *

><p>That night, they seemed to have an even bigger audience than before. Milla and Boq scurried around the stage, acting as their assistants, making sure that all their instruments were ready for when the technicians gave the stage over to them. Elphaba looked out at the crowd, her heart skipping beats beneath her chest. There were just so many. This was just what she wanted, to preach the word about liberty and equality to everyone.<p>

"Now, ladies and gentlemen," the technician announced over his PA. "Give it up for the _People...of...Oz!_"

There must have been at least five hundred people crammed into the building, all of them shouting, screaming and chanting 'People!' as loud as they could.

"Good evening!" Elphaba cried out into the microphone. "Are you ready to rock?"

A sea of cries of 'Yes!' came across from the hundreds all crowding toward the stage.

And so it began again. It all seemed like a haze, the first several songs. Elphaba floated between shouting and singing, sometimes rooted in front of the drum-set, sometimes running around the stage, urging the crowd onward. Fiyero seemed to be employing some Arjiki dance-moves into his stance as he pounded away at the double-wound strings on his bass. Even Avaric had a smile on his face as he played the riffs they had practiced over and over, jumping up onto the sound-boxes as he began playing his solos.

They were now floating in a sea of applause.

"Thank you!" Elphaba shouted. "Well, as you can see from our songs, we don't hold with oppression." Now that she had their attention, she could begin to spread her message.

But what _was_ her message? What cause was she fighting for?

"As you may know," she began. "There are a lot of bad people out there, doing bad things to good people. And some of these good people, they may look different than you, but that doesn't mean, that they're less than you. This next song..." She panted, feeling sweat glistening off her fore-head. "This one goes out to all of you..." She pointed out to the audience with one hand while she held the mic in the other hand. "It's reminds us...of what we've lost. Of what these power thirsty bastards have taken away from us, and how..." She breathed. "...how we don't need them. We can change the world on our own, by ourselves, right?"

Applause and cheer came from the crowd.

"This next song," she said. "Is from the band _Never Silent_, one of the reasons that we're here. This song is called 'Prayer of the Refugee!'"

Cheers rose up from the crowd.

Ramon started with an ominous keyboard intro, that sounded like an entire string section bowing out a hair-raising build-up...to something.

Avaric began with the clean melody on his guitar. This was then followed by a bass riff from Fiyero, backed up with a roll on the cymbals from Galinda. Elphaba swallowed hard, closing her eyes, and began to sing...

_Warm yourself by the fire, now, _  
><em>And the morning will come soon. <em>  
><em>I'll tell you stories of a better time, <em>  
><em>In a place that we once knew.<em>

From the guitars, Avaric turned up one of the nobs on his amp, the distortion coming in loud and clear.

_Before we packed our bags  
>And left all this behind us in the dust,<br>We had a place that we could call home,  
>And a life no one could touch. <em>

They paused, waiting for Elphaba to sing the next words. Instead she walked over to the crowds, now cheering for more, almost begging the green woman to continue.

"Do you want it?" she called out. The sea of 'yes' or 'yeah' came back. "I said 'Do you want it?'" The cries came out even louder. As if to match them, she shouted out the chorus. Hearing her explode with life, the band kicked in, playing their hearts out.

_Don't hold me up now,  
>I can stand my own ground,<br>I don't need your help now,  
>You will let me down, down, down! <em>

__Don't hold me up now,  
>I can stand my own ground,<br>I don't need your help now,  
>You will let me down, down, down! <em>_

In start contrast, the guitars went back down and the calm, melodic verse took precedence again.

_We are the angry and the desperate,  
>The hungry, and the cold,<br>We are the ones that kept quiet,  
>And always did what we were told. <em>

They had asked the technicians to set up microphones at each member of the band, so they could add vocal harmony at various parts in the songs. Just before the build-up part of the verse came to life, Fiyero, Avaric and Ramon gave a warm vocalizing line. The green woman was now standing on top of one of the sound-boxes as she sang.

_But we've been sweating while you slept so calm,  
>In the safety of your home.<br>We've been pulling out the nails that hold up  
>Everything you've known. <em>

Without the hesitation of before, they jumped right into the chorus.

_Don't hold me up now,  
>I can stand my own ground,<br>I don't need your help now,  
>You will let me down, down, down!<em>

_Don't hold me up now,_  
><em>I can stand my own ground,<em>  
><em>I don't need your help now,<em>  
><em>You will let me down, down, down!<em>

She was now running around the stage, her heart pounding fiercely from beneath her chest, her fingers shaking as they gripped the microphone tighter. Her green skin was covered in 'goose bumps' as she sang the bridge: it was like an epiphany, she suddenly saw what she had to do. She was filled with desire, a strong urge to say this or else she would surely explode.

_So open your eyes child,  
>Let's be on our way.<br>Broken windows and ashes  
>Are guiding the way.<em>

_Keep quiet no longer,_  
><em>We'll sing through the day,<em>  
><em>Of the lives that we've lost,<em>  
><em>And the lives we've reclaimed!<em>

She screamed the last lines, her voice shrill and powerful. The boys took away the rest of the bridge, with Avaric improvising a solo that she knew _Never Silent_ hadn't put in the original song. It didn't matter, she was sitting over Cloud Nine Thousand right now and it didn't matter. The song slowed down again - only once more with the chorus. She felt she could go on forever. Then the break.

"Sing it with me!" she shouted. The audience roared back for more.

_Don't hold me up now,  
>I can stand my own ground,<br>I don't need your help now,  
>You will let me down, down, down!<em>

_Don't hold me up now,_  
><em>I can stand my own ground,<em>  
><em>I don't need your help now,<em>  
><em>You will let me down, down, down!<em>

Elphaba was now belting out long notes on the line "Don't hold me up!", while Fiyero was shouting "I don't need your help! I'll stand my ground!" in response. They were almost done, her voice sounding raw in her own ears as she pushed and pushed harder, ready to spill her soul upon the stage - if she believed she had any.

With one last cry, she concluded the song:

_Don't let me down, down, down, down, **down!**_

The audience went wild, screams, shouts and cries filled the room, reverberating off the walls and roaring in the ears of the _People of Oz_. Elphaba was leaning heavily against her microphone stand, her head bowed. The Raccoon walked over from the keyboard and tugged on her skirt. She looked down at him and nodded.

"This next song," she panted breathily. "Is for all those...who've lost someone they love."

The Raccoon's clever fingers danced upon the keys as the others looked in surprise at this. From the drums, wee Galinda looked up at what was going on. Her makeup was messed up, she was drenched in sweat and her hands were shivering violently. But even though she had her doubts about her room-mate, she knew that was a moment that deserved their silence and their respect.

It was the song Elphaba wrote for her mother.

_I've been around this world, Yet I see no end.  
>All shall fade to black again and again.<br>This storm that's broken me, my only friend._

_In this river all shall fade to black  
>In this river there's no coming back<br>In this river all shall fade to black  
>Ain't no coming back<em>

To their surprise, they saw Elphaba was now sitting on the edge of the stage, her legs dangling down, as she sang. From the stage, the audience - darkened by reason of the many stage-lights burning upon them - they could see little flickers of light erupting about them. Like stars they were, shining out as Ramon continued playing away and Elphaba sang on.

_Withdraw a step away, just to find my self  
>The door is closed again, the only one left<br>This storm that's broken me my only friend_

She sang the chorus once more, and watched as Ramon improvised a piano solo in the break. The sheer number of lights that burned from the audience were just chilling. When Elphaba sang the last chorus, her voice sounded nigh on to breaking.

Looking over from where he stood, Fiyero thought he saw her wiping something out of her eyes. It was strange, for he had never seen her cry before.

When the last piano note was played, the audience broke into more cheers, and even louder. Elphaba couldn't even say another word. She had never, in her whole life, believed that people could have liked something that _she_ had done, something _she_ had made.

It felt good.

* * *

><p>After the show, everyone was in good spirits, even Avaric had nothing ill to say against Elphaba or the rest of the band. Milla and Boq followed after, looks of amazement on their faces.<p>

It didn't even matter if they hadn't a place to stay. They would sleep on the stage with their instruments if they had to: the crowds were dispersing, so that was totally possible. None of it mattered.

Tonight, they were heroes and nothing else mattered to them.

* * *

><p><strong>(AN: I finally decided to make one chapter that actually <em>featured<em> in some detail, one of their concerts. I hope you enjoyed it)**

**(Magpie Gregor is pretty much Gregory Maguire. Yeah, he's not as nice towards his character as you might believe. But remember, we usually find ourselves repulsed by people who have many of the strengths and faults that we find in ourselves [that is why Elphaba and Galinda first hated each other, because they saw themselves mirrored back and were not pleased by what they saw]. Like with all of GM's book characters, he's dishonest and mistrustful.)**

**(I don't own "Prayer of the Refugee"or "In this River". The first song sounded like something they would play, and the last one - well, I had established that already in the last chapter.)**

**(As you can see, I've got more going on with our characters than just the band. For instance, I'm sick of people calling Elphaba an MS, and so, in my depictions of her, she almost always has a little bit of an edge as opposed to a strictly musical Elphaba [in _The Great War of Oz_, she's insane, self-centered and suicidal - pretty much the book Elphaba. In _Ozian Adventures_, she's more musical-verse, but is...well, I've gotten no feedback on those stories, so I'm not sure. Never gave them much thought. I ask you to view them now and tell me what you think of Elphaba's character in those]. In this one, well, you'll find out what Elphaba's inner demons are. Here's a hint, it's so musical-related that you could possibly pass it off as a _real_ fault of hers.)**

**(Lastly, the stories of mine that are _Ozian Adventures_ series are _Another...World, War _and_ Journey_, _The Witch's Saga_, _Of Saints and Sinners_ and the soon-to-be-published _The Warrior and the Witch_.)**

**(Back to _A Musician's FanFic:_ tell me what you thought of it. Yes, this chapter was quite long. I plan on doing at least two more concert chapters for the _People of Oz_, though they will have played more than four concerts by the end of Act I. Read and Review...please?)**_  
><em>


	10. The Tenniken Incident

**(AN: This little chapter helps make our story have a little bit more of an edge, which I think is essential in killing off the MS-myth about Elphaba. Also, I'm going through a rough spot with her as a character as well [Elphaba in general].)**

**(Hope you will enjoy it)**

* * *

><p><strong>The Tenniken Incident<strong>

Though they had slept on the stage of the Red House, soon all of Dixxi House and Red Sand knew of the People of Oz. They were the next big thing. News was spreading all throughout Gilikin, and as early as the next morning, the sound technicians were passing them letters from the people gathered outside. They all wanted to know where they were staying, where they would be touring next and if they were coming out with an album soon.

Unfortunately, Oatsie Manglehand's wagon caravan had not stayed around long enough for them to book another trip and they did not know how they would go to the next place, much less the next show.

Galinda's sleep was filled with nightmares. She found herself in a dark room, with Fiyero and Elphaba. But they had their arms around each other, and were kissing. Galinda wept, but Elphaba mockingly laughed at her tears. She felt cold, alone and broken.

"Wake up!"

She opened her eyes warily, seeing the handsome face of the stranger she had met the day before.

"Nicky-Nick, right?" she asked.

"Nicolas," he returned. "And please, don't cry out. I snuck past those pesky tech-guys because I wanted to talk to you."

"Oh?"

"Yes." he said. "I wanted to say that I saw the show and I thought you were terrific."

"Really?"

"Yes, really!" he smiled. "I would love to have you guys come out to Tenniken and play there. You're all invited, of course."

"But we don't have any..."

"Money?" he asked. "I thought a rich Gilikin heiress wouldn't need to worry about money. But it doesn't matter, I'll ask my parents to give us money. They'll pay for the whole thing."

Galinda nodded. It seemed like fun to play somewhere closer to home. As long as she was doing something that got her thoughts away from Elphaba Thropp.

To everyone's great surprise, Elphaba was the last to wake. She complained of a throbbing head-ache, which Fiyero saw garnered a small smirk from Galinda. Avaric, meanwhile, was in an alarmingly cheerful mood. Galinda introduced them all to Nicolas.

"You sure picked a good time to have him meet us, Galinda." Fiyero stated.

"Huh?" she asked.

"Well, we're half-dead with sleep," Fiyero answered.

"Not I," Avaric boldly stated. "In fact, I feel like I could run from here to Traum and back!"

"Then why don't you?" Elphaba returned, massaging her head. Avaric ignored her.

"You know," Nicolas said. "I'm thinking about doing you guys a favor."

"What kind of favor?" Ramon asked.

"Well," he said. "I'm thinking, get this, about sending you all to play a show in Tenniken tomorrow evening!"

"Isn't it wonderful?" Galinda returned.

"C'mon, Galinda," Elphaba said. "It's not like we don't want to play another show, but we're tired!"

"I'm not." Avaric stated.

"Oh, you can rest up on the train," Nicolas said assuredly.

"Train?" Ramon queried.

"Yes," Nicolas returned. "My family has a private train of our own."

"You must be rich." Milla stated.

"Oh, yes we are!" he added. "Well, I've got to dash, really. Got to tell my folks about you guys. But I'll be back later to help you unload your things. Until then." He walked off briskly.

"Never trust a rich man with a pretty face." Elphaba commented beneath her breath.

* * *

><p>True to his promise, Nicolas returned with several servants. They took the instruments and carried them out with them to the Dixxi-Sand Train Station. The <em>People of Oz<em> followed on behind, though Elphaba noted that most of the servants were Animals.

"Excuse me, Nicolas?" she queried.

"Hmm?" he turned around.

"Why do you have only Animal servants?"

"Well, they need work too, don't they?"

She didn't know how to answer this. True, they _did_ need to work. But could they not work at more illustrious jobs than just the servants of Gilikinese masters? While they went on, Elphaba noticed that everyone of the band was present and accounted for except for Ramon.

Elphaba ran back to _Red House_, pushed open the doors and found a sight that she hadn't noticed before. Ramon and Milla were sitting down at his keyboard. The Munchkinlander girl was on the keys, playing and singing, while Ramon held a music sheet and was encouraging her each step of the way.

"Oh, Elphaba!" the Raccoon stated, seeing his band-mate.

"You're not ready yet?" she asked.

"Well, she's been wanting piano lessons." he said. "That's why she wasn't with us during the camp. She secreted back to the wagons and took out my keyboard to play around on it. She's actually very good."

Milla just smiled sheepishly.

"C'mon, we gotta go." Elphaba said. The two hurried to unplug the keyboard and followed after them.

* * *

><p>The train that Nicolas said belonged to his was a large black engine with gilded siding. It looked like a thing of royalty. Galinda and Avaric's expressions changed the moment they saw it. No more riding around in bumpy, uncomfortable carriages: this was style!<p>

They were on their way onto the train, with the conductor ushering them into the cars quickly. They were already running late as it was, by reason of their late start. As Elphaba, Milla and Ramon came up with the rear, the conductor held out his hand.

"What's wrong?" Milla asked.

"I'm afraid, miss," the conductor said. "Your pet can't come on board _this_ car."

"'Pet?'" Elphaba repeated angrily.

"Would you prefer 'vermin?'" he stated.

"He's one of the _People of Oz_!" Elphaba fumed, leering up at the driver. He was a little taken back by the angry green girl glaring at him, but managed to keep from crying out or fainting.

"Miss," he said. "I couldn't care less if he were a friend of the Wizard. Animals go _that_ way!" He pointed out at the end of the train, at the cattle-cars.

"No-How _dare_ you!" Elphaba shouted.

"Please, Elphaba!" Ramon said. "No need to make a fuss over it!"

"I'm _going_ to make a fuss!" she returned. "This is unfair, bigoted, biased, _racist_ behavior!"

"No, it's alright!" Ramon blushed - though it did not show through his fur. "I'll go back there." He walked off in the direction of the cattle-cars.

"This way, miss." the conductor said, pointing to the train car.

"You just wait!" Elphaba pointed at him. "The Wizard is going to hear about this and he'll see that you get yours!"

The conductor looked a little taken back by it, but didn't betray too much alarm. Elphaba, in her frustration, walked after Ramon.

"Are _you_ getting on, miss?" a now angry conductor barked at Milla. She simply nodded and got on the train.

* * *

><p>She walked sheepishly down the line of cars. There was a noise of laughter from one of the rooms. Opening it up, she saw a middle-aged couple, bedecked in rich clothing and practically swimming in gold velvet chairs. With them were the others: Fiyero, Avaric, Galinda and Boq. Nicolas was there also, sitting in a chair of gold velvet with Galinda sitting next to him, laughing loudly. Fiyero sulked by himself, but Avaric was quite enjoying all the attention Nicolas' parents - it seemed - were languishing upon him. Boq was looking hatefully at Nicolas, wishing <em>he<em> were in his stead.

"Milla!" Galinda called out. "Isn't it amazifying?"

"Uh, what?" she asked, a little taken back.

"Oh," the middle-aged man said. "Is this charming young lady in your band?"

Milla could feel her cheeks turning red. The others just kind of said yes with their silence.

"Ah, a pleasure to meet you." the middle-aged man said. "I am Filmont, Lord Chuffrey."

Milla gasped. She had heard of the name, even in Munchkinland. They were one of the most influential and wealthy families in Gilikin. But Milla didn't feel at ease here, among the richness and excess of these Gilikinese nobles. Even Fiyero was a prince in his own right.

She? She was just a farmer's daughter who had to fight to earn her place at Shiz. Her family didn't want her to go, they said that college was just a waste of time, that she would be better off finding a husband and starting a family of her own. They constantly said that Milla was given her beauty for a reason and that it was foolish to waste it all with books and learning. But Milla wanted to do something, something extraordinary, something that normal Munchkinlander girls never got to do.

So, in secret, she began saving up money. A little here and a little there. Before long, she had enough for tuition and books. A coach-ride later and she found herself in one of Gilikin's most prestigious universities. She also found herself rather quiet and something of an introvert: what seemed to be quite an unusual thing for someone of her beauty. She had lived most of her life on her family's farm, with little interaction with people south of Center Munch. Now she was thrown into a school with almost ten thousand students. She was quite nervous and even when she started having friends (if Shenshen and Pfannee counted as friends), she found herself shutting off her brain just to be accepted by them.

Here, with the _People of Oz_, even though she was just a roadie, a stage-hand who helped with their set-up, she felt like she was doing something that mattered. But Elphaba's words that she belted out from the lighted stage made Milla feel that enough was enough: she didn't feel like shutting off her mind to be accepted anymore.

Just then, she recalled that there was someone else who also was from Munchkinland.

At the far-back of the train, after walking through several cars and depositing the keyboard (which she had been carrying all this time) with the rest of the equipment, she found her way to the cattle-cars. The first one was bolted but not locked, and after lifting the heavy bolt, she pushed the doors open and crept inside. They slammed back behind her and she was thrown onto the floor.

The floor was quite filthy, covered in sand, hay and Oz knows what else. Slowly rising to her feet, she saw all sorts of Animals sitting in huddled masses against each other. There was scarce any room for them to move, much less breathe. The acrid, rank smell of feces and urine made Milla feel like throwing up. But she had made her choice, and was going to vomit.

At the back of the cattle-car, Milla saw the only human (if not the only _green_ one) there, sitting huddled against the side of the wall. A Raccoon was sitting next to her. Trying carefully to move her way through the Animals and not step on a fresh pile of stinking excrement, Milla made her way to the back.

"Oh, miss Milla!" Ramon spoke up. "Ah, you don't have to do this. Really! I'm perfectly alright with my traveling arrangements."

"Well, I don't think Elphaba is," Milla stated.

"And how would _you_ know what I want or don't want?" the green girl returned sharply.

Milla made the final push and was now standing in front of the seated Elphaba.

"I'm not stupid, you know."

"You had _me_ fooled."

"Elphaba!"

"It's alright," Milla's face fell. "I deserve it." She sat down next to Elphaba. "I should be sticking up for myself, like you."

"I'm not doing this for myself," Elphaba said.

"Then why _are_ you doing this?" Milla asked. "And more importantly, exactly what _are_ you doing?"

"I'm sitting here with the Animals," Elphaba stated. "In protest. If they want me out, they'll have to take Ramon and the rest of us out also."

"And why Animals?"

"Because someone has to speak for those who can't speak for themselves." Elphaba said.

"But I thought that _all_ Animals could speak."

"Not anymore," Elphaba began. "They're being herded out into manual labor - more like slave labor. Forced to travel in cages like these cattle-cars, forced to _live_ in cages, as Dr. Nikadik holds. Being told to keep silent, blamed for the Great Drought. It's not right, none of it."

"But what do you expect to do about it?"

"I don't know," Elphaba honestly said. "Although..." She began. "Last night, at _Red House_, while I was singing those lyrics, the ones I've sung along with forever and ago since I was ten, I had a moment of clear thinking. I saw that _that_ was what I needed to do: to encourage the re-education of Animals so that we can save them from becoming animals forever."

"How would you do that?"

"Let them return to school," Elphaba mused. "Teach them how to write, then how to speak."

"And if they can't do that anymore? If they're too far gone?"

"We must never give up. Never surrender hope."

Milla nodded. It sounded convincing enough, Elphaba's plan.

"Look, I..." the green woman said. "I misjudged you. I thought you were just another one of Galinda's air-headed friends. I guess I was wrong."

The auburn-haired girl smiled. At last, she felt, things were looking up.

* * *

><p>The train ride to Tenniken was over with that evening, as the sun was on its way toward the western horizon. Even now, Nicolas and his servants were helping the <em>People of Oz<em> make their way off the train and to the building entitled _Sound Hall_. Two very dirty Munchkinlanders walked out of the cattle-car, with Ramon the Raccoon with them. The shorter one, with auburn hair, was blinking in the sunlight - the cars were quite dark inside, being without windows. The taller one, with long black hair and green skin, floated somewhere between waking and sleeping.

"Hey, Elphaba!" Fiyero almost skipped over to her. "Are you alright? We didn't see you in the train car." He sniffed. "Ugh, you smell awful."

"Don't start with me," she said. "I'm on my period and still have that head-ache. I'm not in the mood, Fiyero Tiggular!"

"Uh, alright. I'm sorry."

"Get out of my way," she bit. "Before I kill you!"

"Then where would you go?" he asked, a smirk on his face as he stepped aside. "Can't go to the Vinkus, or my parents will kill _you_ for killing me."

"What mindless drivel are you babbling about?"

"You know," Fiyero said. "The whole thing about the Vinkus. Wide open plains, high mountains, the clans don't really govern as much as wander around looking for food. Many rebels and criminals have found refuge there, though, if you kill me, it would be harder to protect you."

"Why?"

"Because my family are the head of the Arjiki clan!" he stated. "They'd kill you for killing me."

"Just get out of my way." She sighed angrily and walked off toward _Sound Hall_. The ushers let them in one-by-one, first Nicolas' servants and then the band itself. But once Elphaba and Ramon approached, the usher stood to keep them out.

"What are you doing?" she asked exasperatedly.

"Read the sign, miss!" he returned angrily. Looking at the side of the door, she saw a sign that said _Animals Not Welcome Here_.

"But what about Prince Chuffrey's servants?" she asked.

"They're just setting up!" he returned. "They will be herded out once they're done."

"How _dare_ you!" Elphaba shouted. "This is an outrage!"

"Elphaba..." Fiyero returned.

"**Get back!**" Elphaba shouted, spinning around with her hand pointing out at him. A flash of green light later and Fiyero was knocked back off his feet, thrown down against the pavement. Elphaba gasped and ran over to see if he was alright.

"Maybe I should put up a _new_ sign," the usher stated. "'No green _freaks_ allowed.'"

"You'll pay for this!" Elphaba shouted at the usher.

"Elphie, please!" Galinda bounced over to her side. "Just let it go! We need to get inside and practice."

"Not unless he lets Ramon go with us!"

"But Milla can fill in for him!" Galinda stated.

"It's not fair!"

"I know," Galinda returned. "But what can we do about it?"

Feeling quite exhausted, Elphaba was dragged into _Sound Hall_ by the rest of her band-mates, excluding Avaric and Ramon. The Raccoon was sitting on the side of the building, and Avaric walked in by himself, unwilling to touch the green girl.

* * *

><p>They were half-way into their set-list. Milla, it seemed, was quite capable of playing Ramon's keyboard portions, but lacked his flair for improvisation. Elphaba was not very mobile, since she was still on edge by reason of her monthly issue and the throbbing head-ache.<p>

At last the song came to an end. There was scattered cheering throughout the crowd.

"Thank you," Elphaba breathed. "Thank you very much. What we'd like to do right, is we'd..."

But she had barely gotten the words out of her mouth when someone shouted from the back of the audience.

"Freak! You don't speak for us! You don't speak for the Animals!"

Looking up, Elphaba saw that it was a Chimpanzee, who had snuck into the building with some of his companions.

"Please repeat that!" Elphaba nigh snarled, looking about for who had spoken.

"You're a human!" the Chimp roared. "You don't speak for the Animals!" Cries of protest, and some booing from the human audience members, filled the air.

She didn't know what to say. This was what she had feared ever since that Shiz-ite had died in the streets from refusing her help.

"B-But I'm different!" she said, her voice breaking.

"Why, because you're green?" the Chimp returned. "You're still human, and they're the enemy!"

Fights were now breaking out among the audience, between the Chimp's cohorts and the humans in the audience. Those who were not fighting were now chanting "Freak!" Avaric was alternating between making rude gestures at the Animals and taking up his mic and chanting along with the audience.

"Break it up!" Elphaba shouted into her mic.

Just then, a bottle flew onto the stage, hitting Elphaba straight in the head. It broke, and she fell backward onto the stage. Fiyero threw his bass down and ran to her side. Galinda bounced away from her drum-kit, her heart racing at the sight of her friend hurt.

"C'mon!" Fiyero shouted. "We gotta get her off the stage!" Milla ran away from the keyboard and helped them take the green woman off-stage and behind the curtains at the back.

It was like three warriors had brought their injured commander back wounded from the field of battle, how Fiyero, Milla and Galinda carried Elphaba back-stage. Her face had been cut open and she was bleeding. Galinda had her hands over her mouth, and was quietly sobbing, angry at herself for hating Elphaba as she had started doing.

"Milla!" Fiyero shouted. "I need a doctor! Go get a doctor! Quick!"

She nodded, then jumped to her feet and took off out the door that said 'Exit' upon it. Fiyero, meanwhile, was trying to do what he could. Oh, how he hated himself for not listening to the Arjiki healers when they talked about the natural remedies and ways to bind wounds in the wild.

"Elphaba, please!" he whispered. "Hang in there!"

Her large, brown eyes blinked open. "W-What happened?" she sighed.

Fiyero's face split with joy. "You're alright!"

"I feel like s..."

"You've been hurt," he said. "Just stay calm, don't panic. I've sent Milla to fetch a doctor."

"F...Yero..." she whispered.

"Yes?"

"G-G-Go...back on stage."

"What? No! You've been hurt! We've gotta cancel the show, send everyone home."

"S-Show...must...go on."

"You can't!"

"Go," she whispered. "Go back...tell them, we'll return...soon...find Ramon...bring him..."

"But, Elpha..."

"Do it!"

He nodded. "Alright! I'm gonna go find Ramon. Stay here and try not to move." He took off, eager to please her.

Elphaba, meanwhile, pulled something out of her pocket. If ever she felt like trying this out, now was the time.

* * *

><p>Galinda ran off into the bathrooms to wash up and re-apply her make-up. That was what she hated most about crying, it ruined her make-up something awful. No compulsion to be with her friend right now, for she didn't really know if Elphaba was truly her friend. She had stolen Fiyero's heart from her, even though she hadn't laid a hand on him.<p>

Once she was all ready, dusting off her yellow dress, she bounced out of the bathroom. Once she reached the back-stage, she saw something that made her blush and cry out at the same time. There was Elphaba, up and about, albeit swaying, with an ugly red gash in her forehead. She had two wooden signs laid out before her, which she had written upon them words in red letters (Galinda hoped it wasn't her own blood). As she finished, she now rose to her feet and began un-buttoning her white blouse.

"Elphie! What are you doing?" she gasped.

"They think I don't speak for them!" she said, like a crazy woman. "That I don't care! Well, I'll show them!" She had finished un-buttoning her blouse, and threw it upon the ground.

"Are you crazy? Elphie, stop this! You can't go out on stage like this!"

"The _real_ crazy thing," Elphaba said, as she began loosening her under-shirt. "Would be to do nothing while Animals are being treated like garbage."

"Elphie..."

But she was no longer listening.

* * *

><p>Avaric was at the fore-front of what seemed to be a riot. He was now hiding behind Galinda's drum-set, fearful of what they might throw at <em>him<em>. Several minutes later, Fiyero, Galinda and Ramon appeared, walking up on-stage. Fiyero walked over to his bass and threw the strap back over his shoulder.

"Alright!" he shouted out to the crowd. "Looks like you've gotten a little crazy out there!"

More angry cries came from the audience.

"Well, you're gonna go even crazier after this next song!" He began plunking around idly on his bass, looking for any sign of Elphaba. When he and Ramon had returned back-stage, Elphaba was nowhere to be found.

Suddenly he stopped, and walked over to Avaric.

"Hey, Av!" he said. "I think my bass is out of tune." He played the strings, top to bottom. The bottom one, however, sounded much deeper than it was supposed to be.

"Maybe you hit the knobs when you threw it down." Avaric stated. Fiyero began playing through the strings, then Avaric held up his hand.

"What?" he asked.

"That sounds good!" he said, indicating to the sound that was coming out of the bass amp. He turned the knob on the head-stock of his guitar that corresponded with the lowest of his strings. He then plucked the string, a loud D sound crunching out as opposed to the standard E.

"I like it!" Avaric said. "Let's go with it!"

"With what?"

"Let's play something!"

"We're out of tune!"

"Just make something up!"

Fiyero walked back to the microphone, testing it for a moment.

"Alright," he said to the audience. Suddenly he felt quite alone, very vulnerable. He was the swankified prince of the Vinkus, and yet here he was, struggling to come up with a song of his own. "We're gonna play something new for you now. It's like so new, _we_ don't even know it."

Fiyero began with a heavy, groovy riff on the bass, which Avaric then followed with. Galinda started playing along with a drum-line that was somewhat mid-paced. Ramon's head was bobbing as he heard the sound that the two young men were making.

Though Fiyero loved what they had just come up with, he knew the audience demanded words. He couldn't sing, but he could shout. So he walked over to his mic and shouted off whatever came to his mind.

_Solo, I'm a soloist on a solo list _  
><em>All live, never on a record disk <em>  
><em>Inka, inka, bottle of ink <em>  
><em>Paintings of rebellion <em>  
><em>Drawn up by the thoughts I think<em>

The audience wasn't fighting as much as they were listening to this new sound that they were making. Some were even starting to move about in a kind of trance-like dance to the music.

_It's set up like a deck of cards  
>They're sending us to early graves<br>For all the diamonds  
>They'll use a pair of clubs to beat the spades<br>With poetry I paint the pictures that hit  
>More like the murals that fit<br>Don't turn away  
>Get in front of it <em>

_Brotha, did ya forget ya name?  
>Did ya lose it on the wall<br>Playin' tic-tac-toe?_

_Yo, check the diagonal  
>Three brothers gone<br>Come on  
>Doesn't that make it three in a row? <em>

He noticed that Avaric wasn't playing. In fact, only him and Galinda were the only ones still playing. He looked, and saw something that made his mouth dry.

Elphaba had walked on-stage, wearing nothing more than a sign with red letters that said: _Animals Should be Seen _and_ Heard_.

"The militant poet in once again!" Fiyero shouted.

Some people were cheering, others were shouting and making rude gestures at her. But she was now swaying among the band, making sure everyone was seeing her sign.

Avaric looked at Fiyero with an expression that said "Can we just play?" Fiyero nodded, then exploded away with a quick-paced bass-line. Avaric joined in on the guitar. The room was now bouncing with the beat and noise, and Elphaba had picked up her mic and was shouting "Freedom!" at the crowd. They played on, with Avaric jamming away with improvised guitar parts and Fiyero finger-picking away even though his hands felt on fire.

Just then, one of the mics made a loud hiss of feedback. Looking around, Fiyero saw that Elphaba was no longer standing up. She was lying on the stage, looking a pale shade of green. The rest of the band had now stopped. The crowd was cheering them on, but all of the people seemed like nothing more than a mirage. Avaric leaned back, trying to see what was beneath the signs, and Fiyero shot him a venomous glance. He then turned back to the mic.

"This is Yero of the _People of Oz_," he began. "And that is all for tonight. Thank you."

He waved them off, and then turned his attention to their fallen singer, their fallen front-woman. The woman he loved.

Just then, Milla appeared from behind the curtain, with the doctor behind her. Fiyero breathed a sigh of relief.

For better or for worse, tonight would definitely be remembered in all of their minds as one of their craziest shows yet.

* * *

><p><strong>(AN: I hope you liked this chapter)<strong>

**(What Elphaba did on-stage with the sign was based on a pic I saw on _tumblr_, sort of like a PETA thing with a faceless green figure clad in nothing but a sign that said thus. I do not own the song "Freedom" by _Rage Against the Machine_, which I sampled as the 'improvised jam song' that he and Avaric come up with.)**

**(Character development! _This_ is what I want to see in your reviews. How is Elphaba? Should I back off on making Galinda dislike her that much because of Fiyero? Is Avaric becoming too nice? Does Ramon need more screen-time? Is Milla becoming a Mary-Sue?)**

**(Yes, Nicolas is in fact Lord Chuffrey from _Wicked_ the book. Obviously, he's much younger and not disabled. But I have plans for him, just wait.)**


	11. Stopped at Settica

**(AN: Another day, another chapter.)**

**(Oh, and every time you don't review a chapter of this story, Gollum eats a cute little kitty alive. _PLEASE_, for the love of donuts, save the poor little kitties!)**

* * *

><p><strong>Stopped at Settica<strong>

At the St. Glinda Tenniken Hospital, the green girl known as 'Fae' of the _People of Oz_ had been brought in after the events of the show last night. The rest of the band had been allowed to visit her at her bed-side, while Ramon was forced to stand on the window-sill outside her room and gaze inside, though a storm had fallen upon Tenniken.

Inside, Fiyero and Galinda were the only two who were nearest to Elphaba. Milla sat on the bed beside her and Avaric, looking rather bored with the current arrangement of things, was looking away, his arms crossed. His emotions were easiest to read.

The others, not so much. Milla was somewhere between detached, void and empty to trying to force herself to feel sorry for the green woman. What did it mean, that she felt no sympathy for this person, that she was not even shedding tears, that her sullen expression was nothing more than a facade? Did that make her evil, hard and unfeeling?

Galinda feared for her friend's safety. But she was also annoyed that Fiyero was, once again, spending too much time on Elphaba rather than on her, Galinda. _Well_, she mused, _what can you expect? She's stolen my Fifi's heart, that _witch! Under the excuse of a head-ache, she excused herself.

She ran into the ladies room, shut herself inside one of the stalls, and broke down in tears. It was all too unfair! Why could she not have her way? She was supposed to have a fairy tale ending, where she married the handsome prince and they lived happily ever after. But no, her handsome prince was being stolen away from her by the green attention-w...

_No_, she thought. _I still have Nicolas. He's handsome, nice...and rich too!_ But where was he? She hadn't seen him at Tenniken since they left the train, and though he had paid for the hospital bill, he had not appeared in person.

Only two people's thoughts were not on themselves. Only Fiyero and Ramon cared...

* * *

><p>The month of May was now spent. June saw the People of Oz leaving Traum, the site of their third show since Dixxi-Sand, and on their way to Settica. Now they would be playing in western Gilikin.<p>

They were all in a third-class passenger car on the Gilikin Railway, about a few miles from the Dixxi-House Train Station. There they would cross the river and head west towards Settica. The seven that had left Shiz were now down to six. Boq, it seemed, was too frightened by the events of the Tenniken show and left back for Munchkinland.

Elphaba, who was by now quite healed from her head injury, had managed to get Ramon onto the train by smuggling him into her suitcase. Once they were on the train, she opened it up and allowed him to slide down.

"I'm afraid," he said. "I've shed on some of your clothes, Miss Elphaba. I do hope no permanent damage is done."

"It's okay." Elphaba returned.

Silence, save for the rumbling of the train. Galinda and Avaric were both bored out of their wits, while Fiyero kept staring at Elphaba and Milla was reading the Gilikin Gazette.

"Look at this," she stated. "'Last week, the riots in Tenniken finally ended after the Gale Force arrived and put down the Animals who had been rioting for almost two weeks straight, after a raucous concert by the relatively unknown musical group known as the _People of Oz_.'"

"Good," Elphaba stated.

"'Good?'" Milla mirrored. "It says people were hurt in the riots. 'Two Gilikin citizens, a mother and her child, were brutally murdered by a savage Gorilla during the riot. The Gale Force have notified the public and are reminding everyone to keep watch on for the Gorilla. If any...'"

"It's a lie!" Elphaba said.

"How do you know?" Milla asked. "You weren't there for the riots."

"Whoever owns these newspapers are being paid off by these anti-Animal special interest groups," Elphaba stated. "At least we're in there. That means we're rattling their cages. Soon enough there'll be so much that they won't be able to stop us!"

Just then, the sound of the brakes grinding against the train wheels screeched as the train slowed down to a halt.

"You were saying, Thropp?" Avaric returned. Elphaba gave him a sour expression.

"I wonder what's happening?" Fiyero asked. He looked at the window and saw a group of Gilikin police walking along the edges of the train.

"I think they're coming after us." Fiyero whispered.

"Well, we can't let that happen." Elphaba said. "The Settica show is tonight!"

"Oh, great." Avaric smarted. "The green freak has a plan."

"Quick! Get your stuff, we're leaving!"

Before anyone could say anything else, Elphaba grabbed her suitcase and ran toward the back of the train.

"Hey, Elphaba!" Fiyero got up, running after her. Thinking twice, he grabbed his suitcase and tried to follow along after.

Avaric, Galinda, Milla and Ramon exchanged perplexed glances before shrugging and following after. They each grabbed a suitcase of their things, but Galinda was left without anyone to help her.

"Hey, waity up for me!" she called back. "Hey! Don't leave me here all alo..."

But they were still running. Whining, she reached out for the nearest suitcase that said _G. Upland_ upon it and clip-clopped after them as fast as her heels could carry her - which is to say, not very fast at all.

* * *

><p>At the back of the train, each member of the <em>People of Oz<em> skidded to a halt. Elphaba was now looking for their instruments. She found them all stacked by the mid-section of the cargo caboose.

"One...two...three..." she counted the number of cases they would have to be carrying. "Four...five...six...seven...eight...nine, ten, eleven... ...twelve...thirteen...fourteen...fifteen...sixteen...seventeen...eighteen...ninet..."

She came to a halt once more.

"What's wrong?" Fiyero asked.

"There's only six of us," she said. "And twenty pieces of instruments to carry, plus our suitcases."

"We can't carry four bags each!" Milla breathed. She was not out of shape, but not accustom to much running. "Even if we were all giants!"

"Fae, I don't think we can make this!" Fiyero added.

"I can't believe you made me do that!" Galinda cried, tears flowing down her face and ruining her mascara.

"Do what?" Elphaba returned.

"I only have _one_ suitcase, Elphie! _ONE!_" She emphasized her words with a loud shriek, almost pushing the suitcase into Elphaba's face.

"It's _your_ fault for bringing so many!" Elphaba shouted back. She was on edge, what with the urgency of their situation and Galinda's whining complaints, and the fact that they could not escape carrying their instruments with them.

"They're coming!" Avaric shouted. "They're on the train! They must have seen us running and suspected us of something!"

"We can't just stay here!" Ramon stated.

"Well, _hello_ Captain obvious!" Avaric rudely commented.

"But there's no way out!" Fiyero added.

"Halt!" a voice barked out. Looking straight, they saw the car in front of them was filling up with Gilikin police. "Stay where you are! You're under arrest!"

Unaware that their comrades had already got them at musket-point, the contingent of police from outside had barged into the caboose and one of the men grabbed Elphaba from behind.

What happened next was nothing short of a miracle.

Elphaba screamed as strong hands grabbed her from behind. There was a flash of green light. The guard lost his grip and found himself thrust back as if by a great wind. The whole train lurched forward, throwing everyone to their feet, including those in the forward car. Outside, green sparks were flying off the wheels of the caboose.

The train was moving again.

"Close the door!" Elphaba shouted, as she pushed herself up onto her feet. Fiyero leapt up and sealed the caboose door, cutting it off from the rest of the train. Looking back, he saw that Elphaba was kneeling down, both of her eyes open. It was then that he gave a cry. Whereas her eyes had been a dark shade of brown usually, they were now both red, and her hands were twitching at her sides.

He had only seen her eyes turn red one other time in his whole life...that day with the Lion-cub, when the students exploded into crazy dancing.

Outside, the country-side was moving fast around them. Then it was giving way to suburban houses and now large buildings, some with violet domed ceilings. They were now in Dixxi House.

The train car shook, and suddenly there was another flash of green light. Now the caboose was flying off of its own down the train tracks, free of the rest of the train. It went one way, but the 'possessed' caboose went another way.

They passed over the river before any of them knew what was going on. They were all fighting to keep their footing, while Elphaba seemed calm and determined. Of those here, only Fiyero and Galinda were not _as_ disturbed as the rest of them. They had witnessed first-hand Elphaba's innate talent for magic before.

An hour later, the caboose came to a halt outside the town of Settica. Everyone on board had long since passed out from exhaustion. No more green sparks flashed up from the wheels.

* * *

><p><strong>(AN: Kind of short, but I needed to have <em>something<em> happen.)**

**(If you've been following along on the _Wicked_ map, you'll notice that we're almost done with Gilikin. Soon that means we'll be in the Emerald City. As there are about twenty songs in the musical _Wicked_, I'm aiming for something of twenty chapters for this story. Unfortunately, I might have to alter that, since we're now at chapter eleven and Act I has still got two, maybe even three, chapters left.)**

**(Please, for the love of cute, little kitties, review! And with insight on the characters, please)**


	12. Bad Vibrations and Good News

**(AN: Still no reviews? You must not love the cute little kitties [No they doesn't, Precious!]. With power of the author, I can resurrect Gollum as surely as I resurrected [spoilers deleted] in _Of Saints and Sinners_.)**

**(A few words about our character's appearance. As I've stated before, I have a very distinct idea behind what my version of _Wicked_ characters appear like in my fan-fics. In _Ozian Adventures_, Elphaba was Eden Espinosa, Fiyero was Kristoffer Cusick and Glinda was [of all people], Megan Hilty! For this one, I've kept the last two, but Elphaba is now Teal Wicks. Milla, I thought, felt like someone I could see Annaleise Van Der Pol playing - but much more serious than _TSR_, the Disney show about a prophetic teenager. For the most part I let the audience interpret the characters according to their discretion, but I say this in that, recently, the face of Jemma Rix has been floating into my subconscious, becoming Elphaba in almost _every_ one of my _Wicked_ ffs that have been updated recently. Now I'm undecided about whether I like her or not, but I've also found myself quite disturbed by this.)**

**(Just a little meep about what's going on inside my head. As you can see, the inner chaos is reflected by the tension among _The People of Oz_, as you have no doubt noticed in this story)  
><strong>

**(As the title so aptly puts it, we _finally_ hear back from the Wizard in this chapter!)**

* * *

><p><strong>Bad Vibrations and Good News<strong>

By the time the People of Oz had made it to Frottica, things were hardly peachy among them. Elphaba was more than bushed by the performances and seemed more aloof and detached from the others. Galinda had not seen Nicolas Chuffrey in weeks, Fiyero wasn't paying any attention to her, and the only people who seemed fundamentally normal were Avaric, Milla and Ramon.

There had been no sound-check. Milla and Ramon, who were now good friends, were in charge of the full set-up. She was getting to be a better musician, able to sing now. At the Wittica show, she had backed Elphaba up with her singing, and the people loved it. Sometimes she and Ramon would share the keyboard: she would play rhythm and he would play the melody and improvise, with both of them singing. It was a little comical, the gritty baritone of the Raccoon and Milla's soulful soprano trying to make a harmony. But it worked, and that seemed to matter.

Avaric wasn't present for set-up because he was off looking for the nearest pub. Galinda had finally reunited with Shenshen and Pfannee, both of whom promised to be at tonight's show and were now shopping away to get Galinda's massive wardrobe back into shape - so far, she had with her only the white school uniform and her yellow formal dress.

Fiyero, on the other hand, was looking for Elphaba. He had checked almost every single place in this building, Frottica Music Hall, and there was only one place left. After looking around to make sure that there was no one nearby who could spot him, he ducked into the ladies bathroom.

Not much different than ours, Fiyero thought as he looked around. There were stalls, many of them, in fact: more than the men's bathroom had, by far. But there was still a laver-basins of copper lining the walls for washing of the hands, and mirrors for the more shallow girls like Galinda.

Then he heard a sigh, almost that sounded like a tiny sob. It was coming from one of the stalls. Looking down, he could see a pair of black boots sitting on the floor.

"Elphaba?" he asked.

She yelped.

"Get out!" she returned. "You're not supposed to be here."

"Neither are you," he said.

"Just get out! I'll be there in time for the show!"

"Elphaba, listen," he said. "I'm worried about you." Why am I saying this? "You haven't really been yourself since..." How long ago was it since our first show on this 'Gilikin Tour?' "...Red House, I guess. I may be brainless, but I'm not as stupid as you think. Something's bothering you, Elphaba..."

"Well, thank you for your concern," she said. "But that's none of your business."

He had had enough.

"Elphaba, come out of there." he sighed, walking over to the stall under which he had seen the pair of boots.

"Leave me alone!"

Without thinking, he pulled the door open. Elphaba cried out and something flew up out of her hand. He held out his hand and took it out of mid-air. Elphaba might have a good throwing arm, but he had a good catching arm. Maybe that was why they got along so well.

At least until recently.

Fiyero looked down and saw that, much to his relief, Elphaba was fully clothed, sitting upon the closed lavatory. In his hand, however, he saw an odd-shaped green bottle.

"What is this?" he asked.

"Give it back!" she insisted. "It was my mother's!"

He looked inside the open lid and saw that there was still something inside it. He didn't know how old it was, but if it was anything like alcohol, he knew that it got stronger with age.

"Have you been drinking this?"

"I don't think you have anywhere to talk about substance abuse," Elphaba returned. "Now give me the bottle, dammit!"

"Why?" Fiyero returned. "What does it do, huh? How does it make you feel?"

"Just give it to me!" She lunged up at him from off the loo and tried to wrest control of the bottle out of his hands as she had with Galinda that night in their room. Unfortunately, for her, Fiyero was much larger and more powerful than Galinda. Even though she was punching at his chest with her green fists, he did not relinquish control of the little green bottle.

"Ow!" he playfully said.

"Give it back!" she shouted, throwing herself upon him. They fell back onto the floor, with Elphaba laying on top of Fiyero.

All thought of the little green bottle, of the show, of how angry she was at the world, at Fiyero, at her father and at herself evaporated before her mind. Here she was, finally with Fiyero - pretty much on top of him, staring down at his handsome face. Her heart was racing, the hair on the back of her neck stood up, she couldn't breathe and the room seemed to suddenly grow a bit warmer.

_But this is so wrong_, she told herself._ He's still Galinda's boyfriend! I can't be doing this!_

"Well," Fiyero smirked. "Now that you have me where you want me..."

She slapped him across the face, then pulled herself off him. That comment brought her back down to earth as if she was a Stork and her wings just got clipped in mid-air.

"Just give me the bottle."

"Promise me you won't drink from it tonight." Fiyero said.

"Just give it..."

Before she could finish, Fiyero was up off his back and was staring down Elphaba like a hunter seeking his prey. This was hardly appropriate.

"Promise!" he insisted. "Or next time, I'll be on top!"

She rolled her eyes, trying to banish the image from out of her head.

"Okay, fine, whatever." she said at last. "I promise."

Fortunately, he didn't make her 'pinky promise' like Galinda would have if they were in the same situation.

Fiyero placed the bottle on the floor of the ladies bathroom then walked out as if nothing had happened. Elphaba snatched the treasured trinket back into her hands, watching Fiyero's every step.

_Thank Oz nothing happened,_ she thought. But she felt that she was lying to herself by letting him go. She had been closer to him than ever before on this venture - and she had just let it slip away like that.

* * *

><p>The concerts lately were becoming more and more populated. Ever since the news story about the riots in Tenniken, more and more people were showing up to their concerts. Tonight was no exception.<p>

There they were, on stage, doing what they did best. The crowd, however, was much less enthusiastic about this show than most of their others. In fact, as Elphaba looked out at the crowds, she noticed that there were fewer and fewer people genuinely cheering for them.

At last the song came to a conclusion, with fewer cheers and more scattered murmuring.

"Was that good for you?" she called back to the audience.

Very few cries of yes were heard, out-done by the 'no's and 'boos' that were now filling the Frottica Music Hall. Something that sounded like 'ore' was shouted from somewhere in the crowd.

"Are you saying 'more?'" Elphaba asked. When she heard what the person had actually said, her expression fell. This was not going well. She turned back to the others, waving them over.

"We need to do something big," she said. "What have we got left on the set-list?"

"One of Galinda's songs, and the one you wrote." Fiyero said, checking the list that he had put in his pocket. "The good one."

Elphaba was taken back by this. Did Fiyero just call that song 'the good one'?

"Well," Avaric said. "We'll try and do something, if we can."

Elphaba nodded, then walked back to her microphone stand.

"This next song," she said. "Was co-written by our drummer, everyone say hi to Glinda!"

Scattered applause was heard, though the way Galinda ate it up, it seemed like all of Oz was bowing down, treating her like Ozma returned in the flesh.

Avaric began the guitar piece, which featured a few, clean chords played over Milla's vocalization. After four bars, the guitar's distortion turned on, Galinda started playing and Fiyero joined in on the bass. Once the verses hit, Ramon and Milla began playing some backing parts on the keyboard.

This song had been written recently, both by Galinda and Elphaba. It was, in fact, written on a mis-understanding. Elphaba started writing lyrics, Galinda, not knowing that they were about how Elphaba had seen her when they first met, joined in and helped her finish the song.

_Perfect by nature _  
><em>Icons of self indulgence <em>  
><em>Just what we all need <em>  
><em>More lies about a world that<em>

_Never was and never will be  
>Have you no shame? Don't you see me?<br>You know you've got everybody fooled _

The audience was not very receptive of this, some of them even beginning to throw things their way. Fortunately, Elphaba was prepared for this and the incident at Tenniken was not repeated tonight.

_Look here she comes now  
>Bow down and stare in wonder<br>Oh how we love you  
>No flaws when you're pretending<br>But now I know she _

_Never was and never will be  
>You don't know how you've betrayed me<br>And somehow you've got everybody fooled _

The breakdown-like riffs that were being played during the verses were now being taken away by Fiyero while Avaric began a little guitar solo. He ended on a high note, bending the string almost to the breaking point while he lifted the guitar high up above him. Galinda smote the cymbals with her fuzzy drum-sticks, noting the calm bridge that was to follow. Ramon played on the keyboard while Milla vocalized over Elphaba's singing.

_Without the mask, where will you hide?  
>Can't find yourself lost in your lie <em>

The drums signaled in the return of the heavy chorus. Elphaba was now standing on the sound-boxes, belting out the pre-chorus. She was no longer singing to the audience, but turned around, her finger pointed at the drummer.

_I know the truth now  
>I know who you are<br>And I don't love you anymore!_

There was a moment where the chorus played on by Fiyero and Avaric. Galinda kept the beat, but her eyes were now turned toward Elphaba. The whole third chorus was now forgotten and they were playing again. Milla looked back and noticed that Elphaba was not singing, her fiery gaze fixed on Galinda. She took up the last verse to save from a fiasco starting.

_It never was and never will be  
>You're not real and you can't save me<br>Somehow now you're everybody's fool_

Unfortunately, this meant that the song would not end with her vocalization. Her recognition of Milla's sudden jumping in, Elphaba turned back to the audience and finished the vocal-line on her own. At last the song ended.

No applause. In fact, the people were booing them and things were once again being thrown at them.

"We'll be right back," Elphaba spoke into the mic. She then walked off-stage, the rest of the band following after her.

* * *

><p>"And what exactly did you mean by that?" Galinda asked.<p>

"I haven't the foggiest idea what you're talking about," Elphaba said. "Maybe all that hair-spray has finally sunk into your head and has affected your brain!"

"Elphaba, what's wrong?" Fiyero asked, as he saw Galinda's face fall into a grimace of sadness.

Just then, Milla walked in from on-stage. Upon seeing her, Elphaba jumped at her, knocking her down to the floor of the stage, fuming with rage and her eyes seething with anger.

"Don't you _ever_ do that again!" she shouted. "Do you hear me? _Ever!_"

By now, Avaric and Ramon were back-stage. The Raccoon was looking modestly at the floor, while Avaric slapped his forehead.

"I can't believe it!" he said, almost laughing. "And I thought all along it was just me."

"Believe what?" Elphaba shouted, getting up off her feet. "No, come on, Tenmeadows! Tell me!"

"You're obsessed with yourself!" he shouted back. "Hell, even the dead Ozma knows that!"

Elphaba's lower lip quivered in pent-up rage. If looks could kill, Avaric would be dead by now.

"How _dare_ you!" she seethed.

"Oh, it's not that big of a deal!" he returned. "I've learned to accept myself for it. But you! This whole band's been about _you_, hasn't it? You _like_ having a thousand people screaming your name every night, having all those eyes look at you. You _enjoy_ it, don't you? You've grown so accustom to people staring at you, now you _need_ to have them look at you, whether clothed or half-naked."

He took a step forward.

"How many songs have we played?" he asked. "And how many of them were _your_ creations? This isn't about you, freak, it's about me! It always has been! I'm the only one who sees what's as plain as daylight: you're stealing _my_ band from me!" His voice now rose into whines of hysteria. "Well I won't let it happen, you hear me? It's _my_ band, Thropp! Mine! _All me!_"

She punched him in the face.

To their surprise, he punched her back. It was strong enough to send her to the floor. Avaric didn't look one bit remorseful about his decision: who could have mistaken that mocking smile across his pale, blond-haired face, or the joy in his steel-blue eyes at seeing Elphaba thrown down, for remorse?

Fiyero was ready to jump on him, but Galinda and Milla held him back.

"Fifi, don't!" Galinda said.

"We can't fight now!" Milla added.

"I don't want to fight," Fiyero returned. They let him go. "I just want to wipe that stupid grin off Tenmeadow's ugly face!"

The two girls jumped back onto Fiyero, trying to keep him back.

"Excuse me?" Ramon shouted. "I say...can you all just _shut up?_"

They looked down at the Raccoon who had shouted at them. He coughed.

"I think we should go back on-stage." he indicated. The booing had grown worse, and the sound of broken glass was now punctuating the noises of protest.

"I'll go." Avaric said. "This is _my_ band, after all."

"We'll finish this after the show." Fiyero threatened.

Avaric picked up his guitar and walked back on-stage. No one cheered for him as he appeared.

Fiyero walked out next, followed by the bouncing Galinda. The sound of a guitar tuning was then heard, followed by a melodic arpeggio. Milla and Ramon were the last two left, with the unconscious Elphaba.

"Well?" she asked. The image of the angry green girl, her face like a sea of daggers all aimed at her, still burned in her mind.

"Well, we need our singer." Ramon stated. "We'll have to try to wake her."

* * *

><p>The sounds of booing subsided as the arpeggios were now being backed by Galinda with a mid-paced beat on the drums and Fiyero playing along with his bass.<p>

Suddenly, Avaric began shredding harder and faster than he had ever done before in the last seven concerts they had played at before tonight. His fingers moved faster than they had ever seen, and all of them, Galinda the most, had to try hard to keep from looking at him and therefore lose the time they were keeping.

Two minutes had passed since they started playing, and Avaric was still playing his heart out. The others were still keeping a solid foundation with the drums and bass behind him as his soloing seemed to soar to new heigths. Where did he keep all this energy, all this stamina, that allowed him to keep playing as fast and as hard as he was still playing? He showed no sign of giving up.

Elphaba had now appeared from back-stage, sporting a purple-blue bruise next to her left eye-brow. She was mesmerized by how Avaric just seemed to be playing his heart into this one solo, that seemed to go on forever. Fiyero was right about him being the best guitarist at Shiz, she saw that plain as daylight.

Suddenly her thoughts drifted again. She didn't know how she had gotten to where she was at, exploding at the band in rage, writing hateful songs against her friend and assaulting poor Milla. Over his solo, her thoughts began to fly back to her childhood, and the memories she had of her father.

With shock, she realized that she had become just like him in that one moment back-stage. Was that_ really_ what her whole desire for the welfare of Animals had become? Just a desire of a brain-sick child to keep all of the attention on her? She was greatly humbled at the thought that these five had put up with her and all of her behavior just for their mutual love of music. It was _as if by magic_ that they were brought together and had rocked Gilikin this summer. But now the magic had died, and she felt for sure that the _People of Oz_ would break up, tour no more. Tonight was the end.

She saw the lights of candles flicker up from the crowd, as when they had first played the song. After almost three minutes, Avaric had finished his intense soloing and the arpeggios had returned. This she took as her cute. With a hard gulp of air, she pushed herself past the curtains and onto the stage. Fiyero and Avaric were now having the people clap for them.

_One more show_, she said to herself. _One more song. Then it is over_.

* * *

><p><em>Withdraw a step away, just to find myself<br>This door is closed again, I'm the only one left  
>This storm that's broken me my only friend<em>

__In this river all shall fade to black  
>In this river there's no coming back<br>In this river all shall fade to black  
>Ain't no coming back<em>_

This was not how she had written the song, but it just seemed to reflect power and the finality of this, what could possibly their last show. Once she spoke the lines that would have brought in the solo, Avaric played his _second_ guitar solo, with just as much intensity as he had played for the first three minutes. It faded away back to arpeggios, and Elphaba sang the chorus.

Was this how it was to die? The end would be in sight, but the poor person had nothing left to do but face it and take it on full force. There would be no stopping it.

__Even so,__ Elphaba thought. _It won't end on a bad note_.

For one moment, four minds thought the same thought at the same time. Galinda pounded out the hardest, faster drum-fill she had ever played in her life. Fiyero played a bass-riff that even he was surprised that he had the skill to accomplish. The arpeggios now turned into heavily distorted chords. Elphaba thought of her mother, let herself be vulnerable in front of these hundreds, if not thousands, of people who, a moment ago, were booing her, and belted out the chorus a second time.

____Oh! In this river all shall fade to black, oh yeah!  
>In this river ain't no coming back, oh yeah!<br>In this river...____(Elphaba gasped. She realized she was crying)____ All shall fade to black, now!  
>Oh yeah! Ain't no coming back!<em>___

Avaric played on with his guitar and the others continued on as well. Elphaba could not. She ran back off-stage, hot tears swimming down her cheeks. She slumped against the side of the wall and wept. Her mother had died, and now all the Animals in Oz were being pressed into slavery, if not dying as well.

And what had she done? She had wanted this band to be something _real_, to spread the message about Animal rights and to help get things moving. Now it had become all about her: the songs they wrote were about _her_ feelings, _her_ emotions, everything about _her_. Ramon, who liked her as a friend, had no problem. Milla wasn't officially a band member, so she didn't say much. The others, however, had definitely noticed.

She had destroyed the _People of Oz_.

* * *

><p>Nine minutes. This version had lasted nine minutes; almost <em>ten<em> minutes actually. When at last they were done, there was some scattered applause - much more than with the previous songs. Fiyero signed the _People of Oz_ off and they all walked back stage. None of them felt like looking Elphaba Thropp in the eyes, and she had not the heart to face them down either.

Just then, while the six of them sat about in sorrowful silence, awaiting the inevitable end, the premature conclusion of the _People of Oz_, someone appeared.

"Excuse me?" the teenager, not but three years younger than Milla, the youngest in their group, said. "Is there a Miss Elphaba Thropp here?"

"Yes, that's me." Elphaba said, wiping her eyes before turning around. Predictably, the youth gasped in shock. Elphaba was used to this, she even welcomed it.

"Uh," he said sheepishly. "I have a letter here for you, from the Emerald City."

This banished all sad thoughts from her mind. At last, she had her chance. She would leave this nightmare that had been the _People of Oz_ behind and become the Wizard's Grand Vizir. What she had begun with them, she could complete at last! The equality of Animals was not far beyond the corner...all of Oz would soon celebrate _her_. She practically jumped at the young post-man and took the letter from his hands, tearing it open. Her heart leapt as she read the words: the Wizard wanted to see her, he had asked for her personally. His signature was on the letter inside the green envelope.

_Ironic_, she mused_, that the Wizard finally notices me once the _People of Oz_ ends._ It seemed the old Gilikin saying had come true: _Perservere: when one door closes, another one opens._

"Uh," the young man said again, looking about to see if there were any other green people around. "I have another letter, for a Glinda, care of the _People of Oz_."

"That's me!" Galinda sang, jumping out and standing front and center before the youth. Though her loud exclamation had possibly done irreparable damage to the ear-drums of her band-mates, the youth was much more pleased at seeing her than Elphaba.

"And that's just my stage name," Galinda stated. "My real name is _Ga_linda, with a 'ga'."

"Whatever you say." he said. He handed her the letter. Galinda tore it open, and gasped when she saw the letter.

"What?" Fiyero asked.

"What is it?" Avaric returned.

"It's from the Wizard!" she squealed. "He's heard about the _People of Oz_. He wants us to visit him at the Emerald City!"

They all exploded into cheers and hugs all around. Even Avaric managed a quick, three-second shoulder embrace of Elphaba. All thoughts of an end or breaking up were out of their mind. The Wizard, _the_ Wonderful Wizard of Oz himself, wanted to see in the Emerald City of all places!

Tonight was definitely a happy night.

* * *

><p><strong>(AN: Surprise! Elphaba is a bit of an egocentric attention-whore. That's her musical-verse fault, imo. She wants people to notice her, as we saw in "The Wizard and I". Also<em> double<em> surprise! That was Avaric Tenmeadows' finest hour!)**

**(The song they played, the one Elphaba wrote as an attack against Galinda, is "Everybody's Fool", which I also don't own, or _Evanescence_. The whole reaction of the crowd is based on _your_ reaction towards _Evanescence_: it seems like they're one of the world's most hated bands, right up there with _Metallica_ and _Ozzy_.)**

**(The _People of Oz_ are _NOT_ metal. I've just used metal because I suck at writing lyrics and, well, let's face it, people have been avoiding my stories like the plague! Yes, the last chapter was boring, but it's a bit needful. You will see why in the interim chapters [between the _Defying Gravity_ and _Thank Goodness_ portions].**** Once again, I don't own "In this River". _This _performance was based on a live performance, very epic. It felt like a good way to close what they thought was the last show of the _People of Oz_. Now all I've got to do is _top_ that.)**_  
><em>


	13. On My Own

**(AN: Horay for _three_ scenes from the musical rolled into one chapter. Now I've got to make them work and sparkle without song. I don't know, it just doesn't _feel_ right. Maybe I will, I don't know.)**

**(Thank you, Jazz, for your review. Although, as I may have stated before, _People of Oz_ are _not_ a metal band. I've just chosen those songs because, as a metal musician, that's about all that I know [lol. Plus, as Geezer Butler said, not a lot of bands since Bob Dylan wrote songs about politics and current events back in the 60s and 70s]. Maybe I'm the only one who thinks that pop doesn't suit Elphaba that well, I don't know.)**

**(Hopefully I will get to update soon, as I'm borrowing a computer and my presence on it is not exactly welcomed)  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>On My Own<strong>

They were now on their way to the Emerald City! The letter Galinda had received had money for all of them to buy tickets at the Frottica train station that would take them all the way to Oz's capital. Though tensions were still high and most of the band were a little on edge, they were also excited to be going to the one place in all of Oz that was the most talked about, the most envious, the one place someone needed to be in order to be considered a 'somebody.'

The Emerald City.

* * *

><p>Once again, Elphaba had stowed Ramon in her suitcase. He was now outside and sitting next to her. They were within sighting of the Emerald City. The green glow in the distance was now getting brighter and brighter. Despite lack of sleep and general weariness (they had not stopped at Shiz or Dixxi-House when the train paused there at to rest), they were eager and excited to be here, within sight of the Emerald City.<p>

Suddenly the blinds closed around every window and the train came to a halt. Elphaba had a profound sense of deja vu. Just then, someone in green wearing green glasses stepped onto the train.

"Hear ye, hear ye!" he announced. "By order of His Great and Powerful Majesty, the Wizard of Oz himself, you are required to wear these green-shaded glasses that will now be issued to you." Two aides were now walking down the hall-way, giving glasses to everyone. When they stopped at Elphaba's seat, the aide looked suspiciously at the little Raccoon, but finally gave two pairs of green glasses to Elphaba. Ramon was practically swimming in his.

"You're no doubt asking yourselves," the man in green stated. "Why you must wear these glasses. Well, as we go into the Emerald City, the brightness of the city grows so great that you are likely to lose your vision without the protection of these glasses. Therefore, we advise you not to take them off until you have decided to leave. Enjoy your stay at the Emerald City."

The blinds went up, and they found themselves in the midst of Oz's green capital.

* * *

><p>The <em>People of Oz<em> were rather awed by the sight. Men on bicycles with one large wheel at the front and one tiny one at the rear rode past them at great speed. People greeted them with a wave and a smile. Elphaba was both surprised and a little off-put that nobody was pointing or staring at her. Did she truly want this, to fit in so much that she was now just nothing more than another face in the crowd, another brick in the wall?

The men simply looked about, taking in every sight they could. It wasn't every day they got to be in the one and only Capital of Oz. Any hard feelings there might have been between Fiyero and Avaric seemed to have been shored up now.

Milla, on the other hand, felt like the fifth wheel. They were all enjoying themselves - even Galinda and Elphaba seemed to have forgotten their past scruples and were being buddy-buddy again. Ramon was not much help either, for he was looking about quite fearfully. The glances he received were neither friendly nor warm. It was then that Milla noted there weren't any Animals in this sea of shining, glowing green.

They approached the great gate of the Emerald Palace. A round-bellied man with a long, red beard and curling whiskers, guarded the gate.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"If you please," Elphaba began. "We'd all like to see the Wizard."

"Orders are," the guard barked. "Nobody can see the Wizard!"

"But we're the _People of Oz!_" Galinda added.

At this, the guard looked a little taken back.

"Well, then I would say that you've been expected!" he exclaimed. "I'll go in and announce you before His Ozness. I'll be back in an hour, maybe two, depending on how busy he is. Just don't leave town, okay?"

They nodded as the door ward opened the great gates and vanished into the darkened hall of the room. But suddenly, he stopped. It appeared that a dark figure came up to him from out of the shadows and whispered in his ears. The guard nodded, then turned around.

"The Raccoon will follow me." he said.

"Me?" Ramon stuttered. "B-But why?"

"Orders!" the guard returned. "Now step to it, little fella!"

Ramon waved good-bye to his friends, then walked into the darkness of the gate. The door closed behind them with a resounding _clang_.

"Just two more hours till we see the Wizard!" Galinda squealed. "Oh, Sweet Oz! We need to change!"

"'Change?'" Fiyero asked. "But we're just fine the way we are!"

"_You_ may be," Galinda said. "But I don't want to wear _this_ when I see the Wizard! It's filthy and wrinkled!"

"Maybe we _should_ go change." Elphaba said.

* * *

><p>Ten minutes later, the <em>People of Oz<em> emerged from a store called the _Emerald Wardrobe_, wearing the dress-clothes they had packed. Well, only _two_ of them had any dress clothes; being Elphaba and Galinda. The others had to buy their own clothes which, surprisingly enough, were free of charge.

Elphaba was suspicious at this.

They emerged from the _Emerald Wardrobe_ looking rather dashing in their new clothes. Galinda wore her yellow dress, Elphaba her black dress (with the pointed hat), and the other two were clad in the green robes of the people of the Emerald City. Just then, someone on a bicycle rode swiftly past them, depositing five slips of green paper into Galinda's hand.

"Wow!" she exclaimed as the bicyclist did not even slow his pace down as he rode past them.

"What have you got there?" Milla asked curiously. Galinda held up the little green notes, examining them. Then she let out a squeal!

"No!" Milla gasped. "Are you serious? _The_ Wizomania?"

"What's Wizomania?" Fiyero asked.

"Some kind of tourist attraction, I've heard." Avaric said.

"It's more than a tourist attraction, it's..." Milla began.

"_The biggest spectacle in all of the Emerald City!_" she and Galinda screamed together in a chorus of squeals. Both Avaric and Fiyero covered their ears.

"Five," Milla said. "There's enough for us all." She looked down at the tickets. "It says it starts in five minutes! We better hurry and find the _Emerald Opera House_!"

"Elphie!" Galinda turned to her friend, who was now transfixed in place. "Elphie, come on! We'll be late for the show! Elphie!"

"Wait!" the green woman said, holding up a hand to protest the bouncing little blond at her side. As much as Elphaba had grown accustom to people staring at her, that did not make it any less painful that all they had to say were hateful comments about vegetables and throwing up. It hurt, and sometimes she _did_ truly wish that they would just stop for a while.

"I want to remember this moment forever!" Elphaba breathed.

"Why?" Galinda asked.

"For the first time in my life," Elphaba beamed. "I'm somewhere I belong..." She then turned to the rest of them. "...and with all my friends!"

"Don't get sentimental on me, Thropp!" Avaric rolled his eyes. "I might puke!"

"I think you're made for this place!" Milla thoughtlessly stated.

"She's right," Galinda said, turning to her friend. She gently brushed her cheek. "You look positively emerald."

She and Elphaba shared a few giggles, then Galinda, the bomb-shell of energy, took Elphaba's hand and bounded off down the green streets, looking for a sign that would lead them to the _Emerald Opera House_.

* * *

><p>They exited the <em>Emerald Opera House<em> with varied expressions and opinions on what they had seen. Galinda was giddy with excitement, a huge smile splitting her face open from side to side. Fiyero managed a faint smile, but his thoughts were on Elphaba, truly. Milla looked a little scared while Avaric looked plainly bored.

"Well, _that_ was a waste of time!" he said.

"It was just so cute and totally so...Ozmopolitan!" Galinda said. "If we had more time, I'd see it again!"

"I didn't like those dancers," Milla commented. "They creep me out."

"Elphie?" Galinda queried to her friend.

"Those were Hammer-heads," she said. "I think they're from Quadling. So what are they doing so far away from their home?"

"Better off here than there, I say." Avaric stated, which earned him a venomous glare from Elphaba.

"He's right," Fiyero added. "We in the Vinkus have trouble with Hammer-heads migrating north-west into our lands..."

"Oh, listen to you!" Galinda said. "We're in the Capital of Oz! We're supposed to be having _fun!_"

"We _are_ having fun, Galinda." Elphaba returned.

"Then show it!"

"Maybe our idea of fun is different than yours, Galinda." Fiyero said.

While they were so engrossed, the gate ward ran up to them.

"There you are!" he cried. "You're in luck, the Wizard is in a good mood and his schedule is open. Better hurry back to the Palace, you don't want to keep him waiting!"

They ran after the gate ward who, despite his size, could still run fast. They were now back at the gates of the Emerald Palace and, one by one, stepped into the darkness.

* * *

><p>A long tunnel of green there was that lead from the gate into the darkness before them. Since it was so dark, they decided that they did not need to wear the green-shaded glasses and so removed them. They saw that the tunnel was even higher than they had expected. It was strangely cold and unfriendly after the warm welcome from the Emerald City denizens.<p>

The tunnel seemed to go on forever, but at last it emptied into a large room with a high ceiling. It was almost pitch black in there, with no sound save the sigh of their own breaths and the pat of their own feet upon the paved floor.

Suddenly, a bright light exploded in front of them. A grinding noise like the roar of a thousand trains filled their ears. Sparks of fire leapt out from something that was appearing before them. It looked like a huge throne, illuminated by tiny suns orbiting around the frame. Seated upon that throne was something that made their hearts turn cold. A disembodied head was floating there, its eyes a blaze of fire and its voice the sound of a thousand trumpets.

"**_I AM OZ!_**" the great head boomed. "**_THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE! WHO ARE YOU, AND WHY HAVE YOU COME BEFORE ME?_**"

"I think it means us!" Avaric whined in fear.

"Fifi, go!" Galinda hissed. "You're our leader!"

"In that case, _I_ should go!" Avaric said, trying to claw his way towards the front.

"If anyone's going up first," Fiyero hissed. "It's Elphaba!"

"What?" she whispered. "Why me?"

"Because this is _your_ thing!" he said. "You're here by invitation for yourself _and_ for the _People of Oz_. So you go first!"

Galinda gave Elphaba two thumbs up, while the green woman warily teetered forward towards the glowing throne of fire.

"_**WHO ARE YOU?**_" the giant head shouted.

"Elphaba Thropp, Your Terribleness!" she returned, her voice sounding tiny throughout the din of the noise. "But I'm also Fae of the _People of Oz_."

To their surprise, another voice spoke out from...somewhere...

"Just a minute!" it said.

The noise of grinding gears could be heard, some of the heavy lights dimmed, and the head seemed to come to a rest upon the throne. The dark room was now being illuminated by the lights on the chair, and they could see that there wasn't much else in here, save for a few doors along the side of each end of the hall.

Suddenly, out from behind the great head there appeared a little old man. He couldn't have been taller than Galinda, but was much older than Ramon, by far. His hair was graying, and he wore a gray suit jacket over his pin-striped shirt.

"Ah!" the old man said with a smile on his face. "I hope I didn't scare you! It's so hard to make out peoples' faces when I'm back there." He had on his hands a pair of working gloves, which he removed and stuffed into one of the pockets of his jacket. Looking into his inside pockets, he lifted up a pair of spectacles and placed them upon his long nose.

"Now let's see here," he said, trying to scrutinize the five youngsters before him. "Which is which?" Silence filled the hall. "Oh, I'm sorry. My little joke." He pointed to the young man with the blond hair. "_You_ must be Av, am I correct?"

"Yes, Your Ozness." Avaric returned.

The short man - was _he_ the Wizard? - made a triumphant punch into the air. "Which would make _you_ Yero!" He pointed to Fiyero.

"Right you are, pops." Fiyero said with a smirk, which earned him a swift elbow to his stomach from Elphaba.

"Ah!" the old man smiled. "Which means _you're_ Fae...or shall I call you Elphaba?"

Elphaba curtsied before the Wizard. "Either one will do, Your Ozness."

"Oh, it's a genuine pleasure to meet you!" he walked over to her and shook her hand happily. "A real pleasure." He then looked back and saw the last two girls. "And you are?"

"Glinda," _Why did I say that,_ she mused. "Oh, but that's just my..."

"It's a bit much, isn't it?" the Wizard said, indicating to the giant head, which Elphaba was staring at. "I know it is, but people expect this kind of thing from a guy like me, and you've got to give people what they want. Truth be told, you're the first people to visit me in a long while: I don't let many people see me very often."

"I'm so honored, Your Ozness!" Elphaba said. She was practically beaming. "I can't tell you how happy I am to be here."

"Well, that's good!" he exclaimed. "Because that's what I love to do: making people happy." From somewhere in the darkness beyond the lights, the sounds of an orchestra filled their ears. The Wizard then began to sing something of a little song that, they expected, he had arranged for their arrival.

_I am a sentimental man_  
><em> Who always longed to be a father<em>  
><em> That's why I do the best I can<em>  
><em> To treat each citizen of Oz as a son - <em>_or daughter_

The Wizard then walked over to Elphaba and took her by the hand, leading her up before the giant head, singing directly to her and none of the others.

_And Elphaba, I'd like to raise you high_  
><em> 'Cuz I think everyone deserves<em>  
><em> The chance to fly<em>  
><em> And helping you with your ascent<em>  
><em> Allows me to feel so parental<em>  
><em> For I am a sentimental man<em>

They had never seen Elphaba happier in their lives.

"Was that too much?" the Wizard queried. "It's true, I-I can't help it. I'm a real sucker for helping people. I guess that's why I'm so wonderful, to them at least."

"Oh, Your Ozness!" Elphaba practically gushed. "I'm so glad to hear you say such things. You see, I..." She waved them over, and they filed in behind her. "_We_ are not just here for ourselves."

"What?" Avaric asked.

"We're _not_?" Galinda gasped.

"No!" Elphaba hissed at Galinda, then turned back to the Wizard. "We're here to tell you that something bad is happening to the Animals in..."

"Please!" the Wizard held out his hands. "Say no more, say no more! I'm the Wonderful Wizard of Oz! I already _know_ why you've come here!"

They looked at each other in awe.

"And I have every intention of granting your request," the Wizard continued. "But, uh, I'd like to ask _you_ lot a few questions now." He indicated to those behind Elphaba.

"We're in the band." Fiyero said sheepishly.

"So I've noticed," the Wizard continued. "Well, I'm sure you're all very good. I've never had the pleasure of seeing your shows myself: the _People of Oz!_ What an inspiring name!" He paused, dramatically showing off his 'sentimental' side, much to Avaric's nauseation.

"Well," he continued. "As you may not know, I am not only the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, I am Oz's biggest promoter. Honest to God!"

"Well, uh," Elphaba said. "What do you promote?"

"Peace, for one," he said. "And-and harmony for another. The people have come to trust me and I take that relationship very seriously. And, because of their great trust, and my sentimental nature, it is only natural that he who promotes the Wizard is, in turn, promoted _by_ the Wizard, and therefore loved by the people. Just think of it! With my charisma and your talent, all of Oz will be at your feet!"

Their heads swam with just the thought of what all this could mean for them. Of course, all the riches they could ever ask for would be just a word away. Fame out the wazoo would follow and their names would soon be all across Oz, on everyone's lips.

"But, _you_, Elphaba!" the Wizard pulled her apart from the rest. "You have a future of your own. Now, as I understand it, you have a natural aptitude for sorcery, am I correct?"

"Well, uh, yes!" _How did he know_, she thought. _Did Madam Morrible tell him?_

"Well," he stepped back, his arms stretched out. "Show me!"

Elphaba's face flushed a shade of violet. "Oh! I didn't actually come prepared to do magic."

"Well, that's no problem!" the Wizard chuckled. He then turned his head back and called out. "Bring out the book!"

"Right away, Your Ozness!"

To their surprise and, somewhat, alarm, the sight of the giant fish-faced Head _Shiz_-tress floated into the room, bedecked in green robes and just as cod-like as they had remembered her. In her arms was a large book, with a weather-beaten hard cover of leather.

"I believe you all know Madam Morrible," the Wizard stated. "Head Mistress of your school and, uh, my new Press Secretary."

"'Press Secretary?'" Elphaba gasped.

"Yes," Madam Morrible said proudly, maybe even a little smugly. "Yes, dearies, I've risen _up_ in the world!" She pointed up dramatically with one of her bejeweled fingers. "If you stay here, you'll find that the Wizard is a very generous man and the best promoter: if you do little for him, he will do _much_ for you."

"I-I already said that." the Wizard stated meekly. Madam Morrible ignored him.

"Now, then," Madam Morrible said, turning to Elphaba. "I took the liberty of informing His Ozness about your talents when I wrote to him, and he asked that you prove yourself when you came into his presence."

"But, how?" Elphaba asked.

The Wizard turned around and blew on a silver whistle. Immediately, a very odd-looking Monkey pranced out of the darkness. Galinda and Milla took a step back in surprise, but Elphaba was almost immediately drawn towards the cute little creature. It stood before her for a moment, perhaps in awe over her green skin. She scratched the little tufts of hair beneath his chin, at which he chattered loudly and leapt off to a place in front of the Wizard, where he sat by idly, watching the others about him.

"This is Chistery," the Wizard announced. "He's my monkey servant, one of the finest. But lately he's grown rather moody, watching the birds all day with longing. Naturally, I expected that he wanted to be _with_ them..."

"And so," Madam Morrible said, presenting the book. "His Ozness suggested that you prove yourself by casting a simple..._levitation spell_."

They looked in awe at the book in Madam Morrible's hands.

"Is...is that what I think it is?" Galinda whispered.

"Yes, dearie!" Madam Morrible announced with pride. "The Grimmerie: the ancient compendium of thaumaturgy and enchantments!"

"Can I touch it?" Galinda gasped.

"No!" Madam Morrible mockingly returned. She then walked over to Elphaba and placed the book in her hands, then turned to the others. "If you wouldn't mind, take a step back a pace." They did as instructed.

Elphaba, meanwhile, was pouring over the Grimmerie. As mysterious as the cover was, it was even _more_ mysterious inside. The pages were of violet vellum, with words of silvery white that seemed to dance and swim across the pages.

"Don't be discouraged," Madam Morrible assured Elphaba. "If you can't decipherate it right off. I've spent years studying that old book and can only read a spell or two."

The room fell silent. Elphaba was waving her hands over the pages of the book, her eyes turning red as she chanted the words that appeared the clearest before her eyes.

_Ahben Tahkay Ahben Tahkay Ahben Atum Ahben Takayah Entayah Ah Entayah Tifentah Ahben Tahkay!_

"Yes!" the Wizard exclaimed. Now _he_ was beaming! "Look at her go! Chistery!" He walked over to the monkey, who flinched slightly. "What an experience you're about to have!" The Wizard looked out and waved his hand, the orchestra striking up again.

_Since once I saw my own name in the sky  
>I think everyone deserves the chance to...<em>

But before he could finish, Chistery gave out a blood-curdling cry of agony. His little hands reached up at his back, pawing at his shoulder-blades as if to rid them of some evil that was causing him great pain.

"What's happening to him?" Elphaba gasped.

"No need to worry, dearie!" Madam Morrible said. "Just part of the transition!"

Suddenly, a pair of blue, bat-like wings exploded from out of Chistery's back.

"Glorious!" the Wizard exclaimed.

"What an impressive wing-span!" Madam Morrible exclaimed.

"You did it, Elphie!" Galinda cheered on from where she stood with the others. "You really did it!"

Elphaba, however, was everything _but_ jubilant. She was looking at Chistery, noticing that he was still pawing at the roots of the wings and making screeching noises.

"No!" she gasped. "He's in pain!" She walked over to him. "What's wrong, Chistery? Tell me!" But the monkey was unable to answer her. "Why isn't he speaking?" She shouted, turning to the Wizard and Madam Morrible.

"Oh, he couldn't speak when we found him." the Wizard said.

Elphaba turned back to the Grimmerie, the words were starting to obscure themselves again. But she had to! She had to do _something_. This was all wrong, every fiber of her being screamed.

"Madam!" she turned to the head-mistress. "Tell me, how can I reverse it? Quickly!"

"You can't!" Madam Morrible exclaimed. "Spells can't be reversed once they're cast!" She then turned back to the Wizard. "I told you she had it in her! I told you!"

"Alright, alright!" the Wizard said. "I admit, you were right."

Elphaba halted, if only externally. Her heart was racing inside of her.

"You knew?" she asked. "You knew this would happen and you let me do it anyway?"

"But you'll benefit from this also, dearie." Madam Morrible said. The Wizard was slowly backing away, both hands behind his back.

"How?" Elphaba returned, her voice rising in shock. "How can I benefit from casting spells that torture poor Animals?"

"You're rendering service to your Wizard!" Madam Morrible stated. "It is a civic duty, one you should be _proud_ of doing!"

The Wizard, now behind the rest of the members of the _People of Oz_ (who were quite forgotten in all of this), gave out a cry as he looked behind a curtain that hid the rest of the room.

"And look!" he shouted. "This is just the beginning!"

He pulled a lever and the curtain swung back, revealing a large cage filled with monkeys. They were all chattering, screaming out in pain, with wings sprouting from their backs.

Elphaba's hands were shaking. _Have I done this_, she asked herself. _But it was my mission to see that the Animals were being well-treated! Have I just been used to make them suffer?_

"Why the long face?" the Wizard asked Elphaba. "If _this_ is what you can accomplish on your first try," He pointed to the monkeys. "Well, then, the _sky_ is the limit!"

"This is perfect, Your Ozness!" Madam Morrible stated. "What fine spies they will make!"

"'Spies?'" Elphaba echoed.

"You're right!" the Wizard said, pointing to Elphaba. "That's a harsh word. How about 'scouts?' I mean, that's what they'll really be, after all. They'll just fly around Oz and report on any subversive...uh, Animal act..."

"Stop him!" a voice echoed from down the hall.

"Quick! He's heading for the throne room!"

The doors on the left side of the room (left of Elphaba) burst open. Three or four soldiers ran into the room, running after something that was small and could easily escape their grasp. They wore the yellow arm-bands of the Gale Force. Elphaba's heart stopped at she saw just who they were chasing.

It was a Raccoon.

"Elphaba!" Ramon shouted, falling before Elphaba's feet in exhaustion. "Elphaba, run! Get out of here now! It's a trap! The Wizard's behind the Animal laws, all of them!"

"There he is!" one of the Gale Force soldiers shouted.

"I thought there were to be _no_ interruptions, captain!" Madam Morrible shouted at the one at the head of the guards. He was speechless before the fierce ire of 'fishy-face'.

"Come on, coon!" one of the Gale Force guards said as he seized Ramon from behind.

"Don't let them get you too! Escape while there's still a chance!"

They were now dragging him off back down the hall he had escaped down from, though Ramon was kicking and fighting them as best as he could.

"Long live the _People of Oz_!" he shouted. They shut the doors behind them with a resounding _clank_.

Elphaba was shaking inside as she turned around to the Wizard, a look of shock and fear in her eyes.

"Why?" she asked. That was all she could say.

"Elphaba, please try to understand!" the Wizard said, walking over to her left-side. "When I first got here, there were _all_ sorts of disorder and fear. Back where I come from, the best way to bring folks together is to give them a really good enemy."

It all fell into place after that. _That_ was why those who passed Animal Bans faced no resistance from the Emerald City, because they were actually being supported by the Wizard and his Gale Force. That was why the cages were appearing, to herd the 'enemy' of the people of Oz into silence, because...

_No_, she told herself. _It can't be true._

But there was no further recourse, no defense for what she had seen with her own eyes. Magpie Gregor was right.

"You have no real power, do you?" she breathed, pointing to the Wizard.

"You're absolutely right," he smiled. "That's why I _need_ you!" He then waved the _People of Oz_ over. "All of you. Don't you see? The world is your oyster now! You all have so much potential!"

"What do we have to do to get it?" Fiyero asked.

"I will give you everything you desire," the Wizard said. "Everything! You want to be Grand Vizir?" He pointed to Elphaba. "Well, it's yours. And you, Glinda!" He turned to the young girl. "You'll have fame and fortune beyond your wildest dreams..." Just then, someone else joined them. "And any man you could ever desire."

"Nicolas!" Galinda sighed.

"After the horrendible riots in Tenniken," Madam Morrible stated. "His Ozness rewarded the young Prince Chuffrey with honors and titles greater than his father _ever_ could have possessed."

"All he had to do," the Wizard said. "Was give names to the Gale Force, of those Animals who were at your show, and arrest them."

"I would have got to them sooner, Your Ozness," Nicolas said, indicating to the _People of Oz_. "But that woman is a witch."

"Sorceress!" the Wizard stated. "She's with us, so there'll be no name-calling to our Grand Vizir."

There was silence in the hall. Elphaba was breathing heavily. Brightly colored stars were appearing before her eyes, her hands were twitching.

_No_, she breathed. _Not now! I need to think! I need to stay calm!_

But that was not happening. She felt her fingers grip the leather bindings on the Grimmerie. She was no longer listening to the Wizard: he had already dug his own grave with those words.

"It's a shame about that Gorilla," Nicolas stated. "If he'd only kept his big mouth shut, we wouldn't have had to put him down."

It was worse than she could have imagined. Not just cages, but actual executions of Animals. She surmised, by now, that the Gorilla, which the papers had said had mauled a mother and child, was more likely innocent and had been mauled to death by the Gale Force.

_Is _this_ what I want_, she asked. _To be a pawn of this...tyranny?_

She slowly stood up, breathing loudly. Her throat was constricting, she felt that she would explode if she didn't do something.

* * *

><p>"Elphie!" Galinda screamed behind her.<p>

But Elphaba wasn't stopping. She had to keep going up, get as far away from them as she could. She didn't know how far away they were, either of them - the guards, the Monkeys, the _People of Oz_ she had left behind - it didn't matter anymore. She had to be free of it all. She had to get away.

She pushed the door open with the surprising momentum of her thin body and found herself in a dry, dusty room. A domed ceiling was just above her head, glowing faintly green. She looked this way and that, there had to be something else, another door, another flight of stairs.

Her heart sank.

There was no way out. She had reached a dead end.

"Elphie!" Galinda panted as she climbed up the steps. Running in heels was a disastrous decision from the start. The sound of boots pounding down far below caught her attention. Elphaba was back on her feet, a look of anxiety and determination on her face.

"They're coming up the stairs!" she nervously mused to herself. "I have to barricade the door!"

"What?" Galinda exclaimed. "Elphie, wait!"

She was now up and about, looking around this Oz-forsaken attic, panting heavily. There was nothing that looked useful even in the slightest. The sound of boots pounding upon the wooden stair-steps were getting closer.

"Ah!" she exclaimed. Sitting by a box of ratty old clothing there was an old broom - the kind that had bristles of straw tied about a handle of real wood. _I'll use this!_ she thought, running back to the door and wedging the handle through the latch. It would not hold against a determined assault.

"Elphaba Thropp!" Galinda shouted, gasping for breath. "Why the hell couldn't you have stayed calm for _once_, instead of flying off the handle?" She rested against the wall, panting like a forge's bellows. "What good will it do you know, fighting for Animals without the power to back you? Well, I hope you're happy now!"

"Don't even give me that!" Elphaba shot back, he chest heaving. "I saw the look on your face back there! You were _eating _up every single word that-that..._liar_ was saying! I hope _you're_ happy! Groveling at his feet just to feed your endless desire for fame and popularity!"

The two looked the other way, trying to pretend that they were angry at each other. In truth, they were both frightened. The fearful sight of the Wizard, then the painful wails of Chistery and the monkeys that _she_, Elphaba, had inflicted upon them. Then the spell: the second spell. It was Elphaba's innate magic at work. The cage had been busted open and the monkeys flew about freely into the sky. While Madam Morrible and the Wizard were busy calling the guards to bring the monkeys back, Elphaba had shot out of the room at full speed. Galinda called back, promising to bring Elphaba back. Now they were trapped in the attic. Even worse, they knew that it was only a matter of time before the guards found them and they were hauled back to the Wizard...

In chains.

"_Citizens of Oz!_" the voice of cod-faced Madam Morrible called out. Was she speaking through a PA, or had her voice been magically enhanced? Either way, she sounded fierce, menacing and threatening. Cold chills of fear fell upon the two women in that dark, cold attic.

"_There is an enemy who must be found and captured!_" the Wizard's press secretary shouted. "_Believe _nothing_ she says: she's evil! Responsible for the mutilation of those poor, innocent monkeys!_"

"Oh no!" Galinda whined. Somehow, in the dark of that room, her hand found its way into Elphaba's. She thought that the angry green girl would throw it aside. Instead, it closed around her little pale hand in a tight, warm grip.

"_Her green skin is but an outward manifestorium of her inward, _twisted_ nature!_" Madam Morrible continued, her voice rising with rage. "_This...distortion! This...repulsion! This...**WICKED WITCH!**"_

The words echoed throughout all of the Emerald City, ringing in their ears, chilling their blood. The very sound of the wooden floor-boards creaking beneath their feet seemed to them to be betraying their location. There was no hope for either of them to escape.

"Don't be afraid!" Galinda whined, her hand squeezing the green fingers she held onto as if for her very life.

"I'm not," Elphaba lied. Though the strength and determination in her voice made it quite convincing. "It's the Wizard who should be afraid...of _me!_"

"Elphie, listen to me!" Galinda reasoned. "Just say you're sorry, before it's too late. You'll see. The Wizard seems nice enough, he'll let you back. And then you'll get to have everything you've ever wanted!"

"I know," Elphaba breathed. "But I don't..._no!_ I _can't_ want it...not anymore."

"Why not?"

"I'm through."

"Through with what, Elphie?"

"I'll fight for the Animals on my own if I have to." Elphaba said with determination.

"You're not making sense, Elphie!" Galinda said. "You won't be able to fight for anyone from behind a prison cell!"

"Oh, don't worry." Elphaba said. "I'll find a way out of here."

Just then, the doors pounded, shaking upon their hinges.

"Open this door in the name of his Supreme Ozness!" the captain of the Gale Force shouted.

But Elphaba was back on the floor, the Grimmerie open and chanting frantically, her hands tracing the words as they formed upon the page, hoping that they would stay potent long enough for...

_Ahben Tahkay Ah Tum Entay Ditum Entayah_

"Elphie don't!" Galinda whined. "That's what started this in the first place, that hideous levitation spell!"

_Ahben Tahkay Ah Tum Entay Ditum Entayah_

"Please..." Galinda threw her hands over her face. "**_STOP!_**" She screamed. Suddenly there was silence, broken only by the sound of the guards outside.

"It's stuck, sir!" one shouted.

"Bash it in!" the captain ordered. "You three, go back and fetch the battering rammican!"

"Yes sir!"

The sound of foot-steps echoing down the hall was all the noise that was heard. Galinda peeked out from beneath her hands, fearing something terrible had happened to her friend.

"Well," she said, removing both hands. "Where are your wings?"

Elphaba remained crouched in place over her book, nothing on her back save for her clothes and her raven black hair, almost invisible in the dim light.

"Maybe you're not as powerful as you think you are." Galinda sighed. She didn't treasure the idea of being captured anymore than Elphaba had, and was really hoping that _something_ would happen, something that would save them from what would surely be a gruesome fate in the fearful Southstairs.

Just the thought of it was enough to send shivers down her spine.

Suddenly, there was a whooshing sound. Galinda gave a start, then saw something small and wooden flying about the room.

"Oh! Sweet Oz!" Galinda gasped, her hands going up over her mouth.

Elphaba was ecstatic. "I told you! Ha! Didn't I tell you, Galinda?"

The broom flew down toward her, as if guided by her unspoken will. It was now in both of her hands, as if it were a spear.

"Quick!" Elphaba gasped. "Get on!"

"What?" Galinda took a step back. She wanted to escape, but now that she thought of it, giving herself up sounded like a much better idea.

"Glinda, come with me!" Elphaba nervously urged. "Think of what we could do..._together!_"

She would be taken back to the Wizard and tell him that she had no part in this madness. Then he would pardon her and make good on his promise: she would have a roof over her head, a warm bed to sleep in, food to eat, pretty clothes to wear, and enough popularity to make her the envy of all of Gilikin.

All she had to do was turn her back on her friend. The scruples they had as the _People of Oz_ seemed insignificant to this whole debacle. She remembered why they were still friends, even though she had accused Elphaba of stealing Fiyero from her. She couldn't abandon her right now, when she needed a friend the most.

"Well, are you coming?" Elphaba gasped.

"E-Elphie..." Galinda finally said, trying to force back tears. "You're trembling!" She had been too. This attic was too cold and frightful for her tastes. She felt so awful, that she couldn't force herself to be strong like Elphaba. But she was Galinda, a sprite, a cream-puff, a fairy princess, a high-society girl. She didn't have the strength to make the hard decisions.

_If you're going to betray your best friend,_ she thought._ At least _try_ to be nice about it._

She walked over to the bin of ratty clothes and pulled out something that looked warm: a heavy black cloak. She turned back to Elphaba, still kneeling down. The Grimmerie was now stowed in the bag that hung at her side. Galinda walked over to the green woman, draping the heavy cloak upon her shoulders and tying it at the neck. Elphaba rose up.

"I guess this is good-bye." Galinda said. "I...take care, Elphie..."

"If you want to find me," Elphaba returned slowly. "Look to the west." She remembered what Fiyero had said about the Vinkus. Kind of silly, but it would be better than trying to hide in a well-populated place like Gilikin, or even Munchkinland.

For some reason, she held out her hand. Galinda took it.

"Goodbye, Elphie." Galinda repeated, a single tear sliding down her face. "Oz-speed!"

"Goodbye..." Elphaba breathed, her hand lifting up to wipe away the tear. "...my friend."

Just then, the doors burst open. Galinda looked back and saw large Gale Force soldiers running into the room.

"There she is!" one shouted.

"Don't let her get away!" the captain growled.

Galinda turned around, but there was no sign of Elphaba. Strong hands now seized her arms and shoulders.

"No!" she cried out. "Leave me alone, do you hear? Stop! Let me go!"

One of the guards suddenly fell forward, thrown back by the blast of a fire-ball. Turning around, they saw a figure shrouded in darkness, with a green face and a menacing look in her eyes.

"She has _nothing_ to do with this! It's _me_ you want!"

The guards were closing in.

_Well, Thropp,_ she thought to herself._ It's now or never. Too late for second-guessing yourself._

Her eyes, a blaze of brown and crimson, slid shut quietly. The magic was all around her, just within reach. She had always felt it in one way or another. Sometimes it was faint, and she was 'normal'. When it was almost crushing her breath out, especially in times of great duress, magic would just fly out at random, causing accidents such as the train-ride to Settica.

But now, she was in a moment of great stress, yet the magic was just within reach. She could feel the guards closing in. They were almost upon her; she could feel the wind that was stirred up by their close presence.

She jumped.

Before she knew it, the roof had exploded in a shower of emerald glass. With both hands gripping tightly onto the handle of the broom, Elphaba dared to look down. The Emerald City was receeding behind her like a haze of green. It did not blind her (another one of the Wizard's lies, she concluded). But that was hardly important. Down below she saw people the size of ants looking out every window, stopping in the streets to look up at her. Her heart swelled three times its normal size. All eyes were upon the green-skinned cretin, Madam Morrible's 'Wicked Witch', as she did what had been considered impossible.

She was _Defying Gravity._

* * *

><p><strong>(AN: And that, my dear friends, is the end of Act I.)<strong>

**(More story-oriented, this chapter. As you can see, I've borrowed heavily and paraphrased lines from the musical. My plan was to 're-write' it as if it were real, rather than just a scene in a Broadway musical. The 'Defying Gravity' scene is very emotionally charged, and I hope I got that across.)**

**(What happens next? Well, I promised you an interim, and so there shall be. I just need to find the original draft. And, if not, I will have to rewrite it. So be patient.)**

**(10.13.11 - I don't know if I'll continue this story. So far, the reviews haven't been that good, and, let's face it, how many _Wicked_ fans other than me like rock music...and I mean _real_ rock music? Yeah, if this story doesn't go much of any place between now and once I've finished _The Trials of Boq and Nessa_, it's probably going on hiatus. If you care to save it, review and tell me you want more.)  
><strong>


	14. The Witch and the Flying Monkeys

**(AN: After much deliberation and inner turmoil, I've decided that I loathe _The Warrior and the Witch_ more than any reaction I might receive about what is to come in the Second Act of _Wicked! A Musician's Fan Fiction_. So I'm forging ahead with this one.)**

**(There will be plenty of surprises, and several book characters might be slightly altered for their 'musical' versions. Even I don't know for certain how this will end, so I'll be surprised as you will be...hopefully pleasantly.)**

* * *

><p><strong>The Witch and the Flying Monkeys<strong>

_Three years is a long time. The world changes from how we thought we knew it, into something we'd never expect or believe. Yes, it's true that bad things will happen, because wicked people will always be jealous of good people. But know that goodness will always triumph in the end._

_Oz's name, who writes stuff like this?_ Glinda thought as she read through her announcement notes. A rhetorical question, of course: the untidy flourish of E. Morrible, Mdm. at the bottom left-hand corner of the green parchment made it quite clear who had written these words.

_Couldn't they come up with better lies...I mean, lines, to feed to the people?_

It had been three years since that incident in the Throne Room, three years since she had seen any of them, except perhaps Fiyero, three years since she had taken control of her own destiny...

Three years since she had turned her back on her friend.

"It's not betrayal, dearie," Madam Fish-face had said. "She's an enemy of the state. For you, to put your country before your own personal needs, that's far beyond your years, and very maturated."

_Then why do I feel so rotten?_ Glinda asked herself.

Glinda. She was no longer Galinda. The public, those who knew her from _The People of Oz_ and furthermore in her solo career as the Emerald City's icon of popular Ozmopolitan culture, called her Glinda, and she hadn't the heart to change the name. It was her last memento of days gone by...

The _People of Oz_ were circumstantially disbanded. With their vocalist now a fugitive, they couldn't actually play anymore. Milla and Bick had gone back to Munchkinland - she out of circumstance, and he because of the restraining order Glinda finally had the guts to place on him. Fiyero was also in the public figure as Captain of the Gale Force, the Wizard's Guard and police shock-force. She never knew what became of Avaric Tenmeadows, or Ramon Diffarious. If Elphaba had been correct, he was probably in a cell somewhere in the Southstairs for speaking out against the Wizard.

Elphaba...

"Excuse me, miss," the oily-smooth voice of Baron Nicolas Chuffrey sounded from behind. "But do you know where I can find the most beautiful woman in all of Oz?"

Glinda stifled a giggle. "Well, when I find her, good sir, I will let you know."

He caught her up in his arms and kissed her. "Happy anniversary, darling."

"You remembered?" she gasped.

"As busy as I'll ever be," he returned with a smile. "I will never forget the beautiful Lady Glinda. Although..." He began looking around in his waist-coat.

"What?"

"I seem to have forgotten to get you a present," he returned. "Oh, but wait..." He reached out from behind her ear and pulled out a string of pearls. Quadling-pearls, for they were streaked with red that sent red sparkles dancing from the streaks whenever light fell upon them, like the facets of a gemstone.

Glinda ooh'd and clapped her hands. "Now you're a magician?"

"The Wizard showed me a few sleight-of-hand tricks," he returned jauntily. Glinda walked over to her vanity and read through her speech, while taking care of her beloved locks of gold. As rich as she was, as famous as she was now, with an army of servants ready to hold a hanky out if she as much sneezed, Glinda didn't trust a soul in Oz with her beloved hair other than herself...and Larena G. Upland, her dearest Momsy.

"So, my girlfriend of three years," Nicolas continued. "What say, after tonight's show, we have an anniversary party of our own? I know this lovely little pub in Goldhaven..."

"Oh," Glinda pouted. "Nothing would make me happier than spending all evening with my Chuffy-poops, but I can't. I've got to rest up after the show. Those things take so much out of me, and I tire so easily."

Nicolas nodded. Glinda used to lie if it meant getting her way, and that she wouldn't get caught. After becoming friends with Elphaba, she lied less and less. But it brought a naughty sense of satisfaction, making up such a bold-faced lie and having Nicolas eat it up like candy.

"Can I take a rain-check, then?"

"A what?"

"Will you be available later?"

"Just drop it in the drop-box, pleasies."

He smiled, then left the dressing room of Oz's most famous starlet.

* * *

><p>Glinda, also known by her more elaborate stage-name 'The Good Witch of the North'. Mostly because she was from Gilikin, and that was the predominant fashion and vogue of the Emerald City - just greenified, of course. As part of the Wizard's 'promotional' plan, she had quickly risen since the incident into Oz's most famous public figure. She was an enigma and a wonder: a politician, a sorceress, a pop-diva, a trend-setter, a fashion mogul, beloved by half of Oz (because the other half was too wild to have the modern conveniences of record players or radios). In summation, Glinda was everything that Galinda Upland had ever dreamed or wished to be and then some.<p>

But she was still empty. The biggest ego could be satisfied by the amount of love she received as she walked out upon the lighted stage, hearing thousands of people chanting _Glinda! Glinda! Glinda!_ It was all like a dream come true. And her voice, which hadn't been used while with the _People of Oz_, was now soaring to operatic, melodic and soprano heights she never believed could come out of her tiny body. Anything she put out, the people ate up and loved. She could do no wrong.

But she was still empty. Even as she held out her arms after another epic dance song, the roar of the audience ringing in her ears, it all felt fake, incomplete.

She walked over to the front of the stage, looking down at the thousands gathered here to listen to her.

"Do you all know what today is?" she began. Cheers came from the crowd. "Today, _today_, fellow Ozians, is the third anniversary of yours truly. I have..." More cheers. "For three years, we've had the best time of our lives!" The crowds were going nuts.

"You know, three years can be a long time," she began, trying to make her prepared statement sound less generic. "The world changes, and-and mean people are jealous of good people...like you all out here!" The cheers got even louder.

"But goodness always wins out in the end," she said, her thoughts trailing away from the stage and out beyond to something else. "You know? You can always tell a good person. They're always kind, always generous and helpful, they never ask anything for themselves, they're always giving..." The crowd was listening with rapt attention, hanging on every word she said - at least, so it seemed.

"We're gonna do one more song for you all!" she said, holding up one finger. The whole of the audience roared again, and Glinda broke away into one last dance song that got the whole crowd up and moving about.

But as soon as it had begun, it was shortly over and Glinda was waving good-bye to the crowds, walking back off-stage. To her supreme annoyance, Madam Morrible was there.

"Decided to ad-lib, did you, dearie?" she asked.

"Those lines were atrocious!" Glinda whined. "Oz's sake, you're the Press Secretary. Can't you come up with anything better?"

"Careful, dearie," Madam Morrible returned, smiling sinisterly. "We mustn't bite the hand that feeds us, mustn't we?"

Glinda nodded, then went on her way.

"Oh, but what about your adoring fans?" Madam Fish-face said, indicating to the crowd.

"I'm too tired for fans," Glinda sighed, bending over with both hands on her bent knees to emphasize. "I need some rest-time. I'll sign autographs at tomorrow's public appearance."

"Don't be late," Madam said. "I will be looking for you." She waved her hand, smiling falsely, then glided out of the back-stage. Glinda knew that 'looking for you' meant 'watching you'.

_I'll just have to be extra-careful, then_, Glinda thought mischievously.

* * *

><p>A hole-in-the-wall venue in Dirt Boulevard. This was hardly a place for Glinda, a public figure worth at least six figures, to be alone. Yet she had a cloak covering her up and wore her least prettified dress. Her chief-servant, Jellia Jamb, had helped her escape the main whoop-dee-doo at the newly christened Lord Chuffrey Exhibition Hall - constructed, funded and managed by her boyfriend, who let her perform there whenever she wished - and steal away to this dark alley.<p>

At the front of the venue there was a booth set up, where a Goat sat behind with a ledger. He checked the tickets that those who entered the venue presented to him before entering. Glinda gripped hers tightly in her gloved hands: gloved because anyone would spot her with that kind of manicure. It was _only_ the most expensive nail-polish, glitter and so forth in all of the Emerald City! She hadn't been planning this secret outing for almost nine months for it all to go up in smoke over nail-polish!

The Goat didn't look over the woman before him, just at the ticket. He pinched off a piece of it, then returned it to the woman, telling her to enjoy the show.

Inside the venue, it was a zoo. Almost literally, for there were Animals of all shapes and sizes among the crowds, speaking or braying in whatever language they spoke. It also stank greatly, and Glinda kept her shawl down over her mouth as she tried to push her way to the front.

A hand reached out and tapped her on the shoulder. With a yelp, she jumped around and saw an Ape, an Owl and a Donkey standing in a corner.

"Excuse me, miss," the Ape said. "Could you help us with a question?"

"I think I should be going," Glinda tried to leave.

"No, please!" the Ape insisted. "It will only take a second."

"You see," the Owl began. "I've been following this act back in the old days, when it was the _People of Oz_. I've been trying to convince my foolish friend here," He pointed one wing to the Donkey. "To get into some of their older material. It's the only good kind there is, you know."

"But didn't the _People of Oz_ never record an album?" she asked.

"Quite right," the Owl said.

"But there've been several people, and Animals, bold enough to try and bootleg some of the shows. I think there's even an old recording of their first show. It's probably ruined by now, unusable and scratched."

"I wouldn't know." Glinda shook her head.

"Still," the Owl turned back to his friend. "It's the first several shows of the _People of Oz_ that you should look into finding recordings of, none of their later stuff. It sucked more than an Elephant."

"Watch it, you!" an Elephant returned as he made his way through the crowds.

"I can't believe you won't even give their latest stuff a chance!" the Donkey returned.

"It's garbage, total utter garbage!" the Owl sighed. "All their songs became sappy heartbreak-n-love ballads. It's like they didn't even care about _us_ anymore!"

"Good riddance," the Ape returned. "We don't need any humans trying to empathize with us."

"B-But she's green," Glinda said. "Fae, of the _People_. If anyone knows what it's like to be treated unfairly, it's her."

"Boo-freaking-hoo!" the Ape shrugged. "Green or not, she's still human. One human's no different than the other, they all want to silence us."

Suddenly, the stage began to darken. The noises of the crowd began to die down, and only the chattering of Monkeys could be heard. Two dove in from behind the audience, flying onto the stage. Two more climbed down from ropes tied to the ceiling and a fifth one somersaulted on-stage. Lights flashed on and off to the rapid beat of the drums, so much that Glinda feared she would go blind with so many bright flashes.

Then all was black. A burst of blue light appeared on-stage, arching up across the audience before exploding into a shower of lights that fell harmlessly over the heads of the crowd. A second one in violet shone, then another in red. Last there was a yellow one, then two blasts of green light. With each blast the audience cried out in awe and amazement, cheering loudly.

Two spot-lights shone upon the stage. In their glow, Glinda could see a great set-up. There was a keyboard and a huge drum-set, bigger than hers had been. To her surprise, she saw monkeys with blue wings sitting at their stations. Three others lolly-gagged about, one with a bass-guitar and _two_ with electric guitars. There was no sign of anyone or anything other than Monkeys on-stage.

A flash of sulfurous red smoke, accompanied by a hair-raising string backing from the keyboard, the three Monkeys on guitars pounding away a loud D chord and a thunderous drum solo. The smoke dissipated, and there she was. All clad in black, with a tall-peaked, wide-brimmed black hat upon her head.

"I am the Witch!" the figure said, a microphone clutched in her green hands. It was Elphaba's voice. "These are the Flying Monkeys and this...is..._Stargazer!_"

The drum-solo kept going on, faster and faster than before, louder and louder, booming like thunder. Then the rest of the band came in, the keyboard striking up a stringed ensemble while the bass and guitars played away a simple yet groovy sounding riff. A rest, then the Witch sang. It was just as Glinda had remembered it, just as powerful, if not more so...

_High noon, oh I'd sell my soul for water_  
><em>Three years worth of breakin' my back<em>  
><em>There's no sun in the shadow of the Wizard<em>  
><em>See how he glides, why he's lighter than air?<em>  
><em>Oh I see his face!<em>

_Where is your star?_  
><em>Is it far, is it far, is it far?<em>  
><em>When do we leave?<em>  
><em>I believe, yes, I believe<em>

The band began to play faster, and Glinda was hard-pressed to keep herself from joining in their joyous revelry. It was indeed amazing, especially when the Witch started singing again.

_In the heat and the rain_  
><em>With whips and chains<em>  
><em>To see him fly<em>  
><em>So many die<em>  
><em>We build a tower of stone<em>  
><em>With our flesh and bone<em>  
><em>Just to see him fly<em>  
><em>But we don't know why<em>  
><em>Now where do we go?<em>

The first song only, and it lasted for almost nine minutes. Yet even Glinda, with her short attention span, was enthralled for every second of those minutes. Though she was awed by the stark difference of _The Witch and the Flying Monkeys_ as opposed to the _People of Oz_. It was much more aggressive, faster-paced, and the drums were far beyond what Glinda and her high-heeled shoes were capable of producing. The guitars were louder, perhaps a by-product of two guitars playing at once, and the Witch's voice knew no limits.

In the end, the Wizard fell with all eyes watching him.

* * *

><p><strong>(AN: Yes, <em>A Musician's Fan Fiction <em>is back!)**

**(And [surprise surprise! lol], _The Witch and the Flying Monkeys_. I usually don't like bands with names of x-person 'and the...' like that, but I decided to be different. The map of the Emerald City from _Out of Oz_ was consulted for some of the local places.)**

**(At last, I, like Elphaba, am liberated in my writing with this story! I said before that the _People of Oz_ were _not_ a metal band, and I stand by that. But I never said anything about limiting the music genres of _The Witch and the Flying Monkeys_. ****Though it won't be 'typical' metal, like glam metal [if you remember back to the older chapters, that was the kind of hard rock that Fiyero was into before joining _The People_], or the screaming stuff of nowadays [obviously, an Oz set in the 60s and 70s wouldn't have any -core bands yet]. I'll still try to stay true to my original vision, though, and look for heavy songs that have current event/political ramifications that can be exploited [like _Rainbow_'s "Stargazer", at least in the context of Oz, 'the Wizard' and everything. lol. I don't own that song]. Also, it sounds wicked sweet when I listen to it while surfing _tumblr_ for pics of Wicked.)**

**(For any who may think I'm daft with mixing Wicked and metal, just PM me and I'll link you to something that will show you just how much they do go together! :D)**


	15. Behind the Stage

**(AN: The bad thing about writing several stories at once is that your attention and artistic talents are diffused, weakening the output of any one story. The good thing is that if you ever _do_ run short of inspiration - like I have - there's always something else you can work on. That seemed to have worked into favor for this story. For here is a new chapter! It's a bit short, but it's leading up to the next chapter [which will make that whole Train sequence relevant], and established a very important plot bunny that I _know_ you all are going to LOVE!)**

* * *

><p><strong>Behind the Stage<strong>

The set was over. The Witch and the Flying Monkeys had dominated the night. Though the music was obviously louder and faster (not to mention louder) than what Glinda preferred, she was absolutely thrillified to be there, to be supporting her beloved friend, even in the slightest.

But now that the night was almost over and she would shortly be missed, she had to get back-stage. She always had been able to negotiate her way back there to meet with her favorite performers - a photo of her and Lancely with beaming smiles on their faces was hanging in a frame in her Emerald City apartment.

This venue, however, posed something of a problem. It was a little hole-in-the-wall kind of place with almost no back-stage. That posed a problem since the band would probably already be leaving. Also, she and Elphaba hadn't parted on the best of terms.

Fortunately, for such a small venue, security was light and she could sneak in practically anywhere. Passing through the crowd, she ducked behind a stack of cabinet amplifiers that were as big as those Wizomania Hammerheads. Suddenly, a heavy sheet was thrown over it and Glinda was cast into darkness. The cabinet lifted up and she felt herself being carried away. The desire to scream, to shout, to let somebody know she was in there, came over her, then it dawned on her that she would also give herself away.

With an unceremonious thunk, she was deposited someplace. Glinda's first thought was the back of a carriage or luggage cabin on a train. Then she heard voices and sounds. The sounds came from what sounded like Monkeys that could no longer speak - monkeys, she believed they were called.

The other voice was Elphaba's.

"No, see, it will sound better if make this section the coda of the song," she said. "And maybe have a drum-fill build up to the next chorus."

A monkey squawked in approval or disapproval, Glinda didn't know.

"Nikko, please don't throw your own poo at the audience," Elphaba sighed. "You are an Animal-in-training, at least act like one."

A third joined in the cacophony of monkey noises.

"Lodey, you can't smash your guitar! We're poor and you need it to be working." She sighed in frustration again. "Where is Chistery?" More squeaking. "Come on, Winny, try and say it this time. I know you can do it!"

A sad squawk, more like a disappointed moan, came from one of the monkeys. Maybe it was because she was trapped in a dark place, and couldn't see what was going on, or that her hearing became better by reason of her lack of sight, but Glinda could almost detect that the monkey must have been a female.

An explosion of chattering followed shortly, and Glinda guessed that someone, or someones, had joined them.

"Chistery, there you are! Where have you been? And why is Stevo with you?" There was silence, and Glinda could hear the distinct rustle of paper. Suddenly she heard Elphaba gasp, and mutter breathlessly "Oh Sweet Oz!" The sound of papers falling to the floor could be heard.

An inquisitive squawk broke the silence that followed.

"I have to get into the Palace," Elphaba finally said. "Damn, I've been so stupid! Where has all this gig money been getting us if we're not actually helping the Animals?"

More chattering followed, Glinda could only guess, from the monkeys.

"Wrap up everything here," Elphaba's voice said. "We'll meet outside the Westgate an hour before dawn. If I'm not there, leave without me."

One of the monkeys interjected.

"No!" Elphaba returned. "I can't risk you all going back into the Wizard's cages for me."

There was a sudden whoosh, as if a certain somebody was defying gravity. Then the monkeys started to disperse. Once their sounds became a little faded, Glinda poked her blond head out of the sheet that covered the amp in which she had hid, and saw a bunch of papers lying on the ground.

_Perhaps this is what upset Elphie,_ she thought. Against her 'better' judgment, she turned a page over and looked at it. It was sheet music! She had learned to read sheet music in her career - for those slower ballady dance numbers where she could let her musicianship really shine - and what she saw here was beautiful.

There was no title on the page. A subtitle said 'A Duet of Friendship'. But it was the name at the top of the page that Glinda recognized. Elphaba must have seen it as well, and with it, a sea of memories returned of that one short day in the Emerald Palace.

The name was R. Diffarious.

* * *

><p><strong>(AN: I had a little fun with the names of some of the other Flying Monkeys. Nikko<strong>** was Chistery's name in the original _Wizard of Oz_ movie, he usually plays drums [a tribute to Nicko McBrian of the famous metal band _Iron Maiden_]. The guitarist, Lodey, is a tribute to a certain guitarist named 'Lodewijk' [as in Edward Van Halen's middle name]****. The others I came up with names for them from _Wicked_ lore. Winny, obviously, for Winnie Holzman and Stevo for Stephen Schwartz. In this story, at least, the Monkeys had a music background before being enslaved by the Wizard and they switch out stage duties from time to time.)**

**(So, what do you think so far? As much as spamming you with concert chapters is fun, I have a legit story that I have to be getting to, so just hold on to your seats, because _that_ is coming along shortly!)**


	16. Stolen

**(AN: Okay, new chapter. This is more story-oriented, and shows the conclusion of what happened at Settica. I know, that sub-plot really wasn't that important, but I'll try to flesh it out here.)**

* * *

><p><strong>Stolen<strong>

One of the lucky things about being a public figure meant that you could usually get yourself where you needed to go in short time. As soon as she was certain that nobody was watching her, Glinda Upland made her way tip-toe by tip-toe out of the venue and into the streets of the Emerald City.

The Palace was her next destination.

Fame also had it's draw-backs. She couldn't go into a store or town in Greater Oz without someone recognizing her. Then a sea of people came rushing about, wanting to take a picture of her, to have her touch them, anything! The Wizard and Madam Morrible had invented a clever way for her to travel, one that ensured her safety and also made quite a spectacle whenever she went: a pendulum-looking machine that was powered by bubbles.

At the moment, she didn't have such transportation, just her feet, and a pair of very expensive high heels purchased from the City's own Emerald Trader.

Luckily, a carriage driver was making his way down the street. Sensing an opportunity, Glinda stepped out in front of the carriage, waving her hands about widely. The driver pulled the reins to a stop, got out to start cursing out whoever was foolish enough to stand in front of his carriage, then took off his hat when he saw who it was.

"Why, Lady Glinda!" he exclaimed. "I-I mean no disrespectation, Your Goodness. You see, it's-it's been a long day, and I guess I wasn't thinking..."

"Please, good sir," Glinda returned, donning her bubbliest, goodest demeanor. "I am in haste. I must reach the Emerald Palace at once!"

"A-At your service, Your Goodness!" the driver nodded.

"Why, that's so kind of you, sir," Glinda said as she climbed into the carriage. "Oh, I must needs find some way to repay you."

"Please, think nothing of it." he smiled. "Although, I wish my kids were here. They do love your music, Your Goodness." He reached up from underneath his carriage-seat and pulled out a heavy vellum sheath. "Got one of your records right here."

"Oh, do you happen to have a pen?" Glinda asked. "I think I know how I can repay you."

"I'm afraid I don't," he returned.

"No bother, I do," she smiled. She reached beneath the cloak, into her dress beneath, and pulled out a long, fluffy pink quill with everlasting ink: a little toy from Madam Morrible that she, Glinda, 'Glindafied' into a pink nightmare. The driver handed her the record cover and Glinda scribbled her name upon the cover.

With a crack of the reins, they were off to the Emerald Palace.

* * *

><p>She arrived at the Emerald Palace, thanked the driver again, then ran inside, throwing her cloak somewhere nobody could find it but her. Once she passed the doors (Omby Amby, that odd little man with a fuzzy green helmet and huge orange whiskeys, let her in without any resistance. She was known here and allowed entrance without having to wait for days or even months on end), she found that all was quiet in the Palace.<p>

This was both comforting and nerve-racking. If the alarms were sounded, that meant that Elphaba had been seen. Likewise, the absence of alarms meant that Elphaba hadn't been seen yet, and might still be in danger. But, if she still hadn't been found out, where would she be?

_If I were Elphaba_, she thought, _where would I go first?_

Then it hit her: the sheets of music score at the venue, Elphaba saw it and suddenly decided to go to the Palace. It was composed by R. Diffarious, the very one who had played keyboard for the _People of Oz_. Could he still be alive? The last place Glinda remembered seeing him was...

The Throne Room!

Gathering her skirts about her, Glinda took off on a very tedious jog - especially in those heels - down the hallway, trying to remember which way was the one that led to the Throne Room. The hallway was exceedingly empty: no sight or sound of Gale Force or royal attendants in all directions. Actually, Glinda would rather that there were such people about. The staccato clip-clap of her heels was so loud, it was echoing all the way across the long, green tunnel-like hallways. It made her heart race: somebody would find her, and if they found her and Elphaba together...

Suddenly, she heard a sound! It was coming from one of the rooms to the left. It was a low sound, unsteady and quivering, yet filled with emotion. As carefully as she could, Glinda crept towards the nearest door in the direction of the sound. Pushing it open, she found herself in the rear-parts of the Throne Room. These were usually cordoned away from the main vista with emerald curtains. But the sound was coming from inside.

The huge iron bars of what used to be a great aviary still stood in the rear center of the room. At the edge of these bars, clinging onto them with head bowed, was a figure in black. It was weeping. With a tiny yelp of a start, Glinda realized that there were two other figures on the other side of the bar. Even in the dim light, she could just barely make them out. One looked like a goat, shaking and shivering all on its own on the far side of the cage. Closer to the bars, near the weeping figure, was a raccoon, chirping away and petting the figure's head with its clever black hands.

"Elphie?" she whispered.

The figure's head looked frantically here and there, like a snake tasting its environment. It came to rest on the little figure in the pale blue dress.

"Oh, it's so good to see you!" Glinda said, running up and throwing her arms around Elphaba's shoulders. To her surprise, Elphaba did not seem to be acknowledging her presence.

"Hey, Elphie, it's me!" Glinda continued. "It's your Glinda!"

"They're gone," the green woman whispered sorrowfully.

"What? Who's gone?"

"Ramon, and Dr. Dillamond," she added. Glinda gasped.

"You mean that's..." she asked. "But how? I mean, why?"

Elphaba held out an old, worn letter. Glinda did not recognize it at first, until she pried the old pages open and read from it quietly:

_I am almost persuaded to believe that there _is_ no Wizard, or that _he_ is the cause of these events. I am going in secret to the Emerald City to visit His Ozness and discover the truth for myself._

"Do you remember his last day at Shiz?" Elphaba asked sobbingly.

"Actually no," Glinda replied. "I slept in, must have missed that class."

* * *

><p><em>"Everyone take your seats, class," the Goat said, a twinge of sadness in his voice. Everyone noticed the suit-case sitting up on top of the teacher's desk. "I have much to say, and very little time. I...Today is my last day here at Shiz. I'm afraid, Animals are no longer permitted to teach."<em>

_Only one person rose from her place in protest. "What?"_

_"Please, I'm alright." the Doctor returned, continuing to address the class as a whole. "I want to take this time to thank you all for sharing with me your enthusiasm..." He looked at a desk, near the front of the classroom that was empty. "Your essays, however poorly structured..."__ Then he turned to the green girl, her face so full of concern._

_"And, even on occasion, your lunch."_

_The doors of the classroom were thrown open suddenly. Madam Morrible, looking like a goldfish in her luxurious red dress, was at the head, with two gray-clad men walking in-line behind her. One of them blew a whistle: it was shrill and loud._

_"Oh, why Dr. Dillamond," the Head Shiz-tress pouted sympathetically. "I'm so terribly sorry."_

_The green woman got out of her seat and crossed over to speak with Madam Morrible._

_"Madam, please! You've got to stop this!" she insisted._

_A friendly hoof patted her on the shoulder._

_"Don't worry about me, Miss Elphaba," Dr. Dillamond whispered. "They can take my job away, but they can't silence me! I will continue speaking out against these bans..."_

_"Come on, goat!" one of the gray-clad men shouted. He and his comrade seized Dr. Dillamond by the arm, leaving a devastrated Elphaba aghast that they would use the word 'goat' as if it were something so...inferior._

_"Don't believe what they tell you!" Dr. Dillamond shouted, grabbing hold of his suitcase as the gray-clad suits took him out. "You're not being told the whole story! Remember that, class!"_

* * *

><p>"I guess he spoke out too much," Elphaba said, her voice hollow and void of really anything.<p>

"Oh, Elphie..." Glinda tried to comfort her friend, placing her arm around Elphaba's bony shoulders. It didn't seem to be working.

Just then, the sounds of boots pounding down the hallway rang in Glinda's ears. Looking about here and there, she saw another doorway open up and Gale Force guards, armed with polearms and muskets filling the Throne Room. All the weapons leveled in the direction of the green woman.

Circumstantially, they were also aiming at Glinda as well.

"Glinda," a voice asked suspiciously. "What are you doing here? I thought you had retired to your quarters hours ago."

She turned about, and saw Nicolas Chuffrey walking up through the ranks of the Gale Force soldiers.

"I guess I sleep-walk?" Glinda chuckled.

"Well, what fortuitous circumstance this is!" he exclaimed, a smile on his face. "Two of the five members of the _People of Oz_ together again under one roof. How long has it been, three years? My Oz! I think _this_ was the room your break-up officially happened in, as I recall."

He turned to one of the guards and whispered instructions. He nodded, then departed. Nicolas turned then back to Glinda and Elphaba.

"I think," he exclaimed. "In light of this amazing turn of events, we should hold a reunion show! One big show where all the members of the _People of Oz_ get back onstage for the first time in three years and have the concert of their lives. It will indeed cause a sensation: the Wicked Witch of the West, member of anarchist music group, killed onstage in front of a hundred thousand people."

"Chuffy-poops, no!" Glinda exclaimed.

"'Chuffy-poops?'" Elphaba replied. If she had not seen the two Animals she admired most become little better than dead just moments ago, she would be splitting at the seams with laughter.

To Glinda's surprise, she saw that Nicolas was laughing.

"Why the long face, Witch?" he asked, indicating to Elphaba. "After all, they were only animals."

"Animals deserve every right as anyone else does!" the green woman snarled, rising to her feet in the stance of a cobra ready to strike.

"How very humanitarian of you!" he mockingly exclaimed. "The last time I checked, your soul was supposed to be so unclean that you could be melted by pure water. Now why would something that foul care about anyone but herself? Hmm?"

"I've always fought for those who can't fight for themselves!" Elphaba returned.

"So you say," he replied. "Come come, let's be honest with ourselves. You never really cared about the Animals, or the _People of Oz_. It was all about the fame, the attention. Little green bean never got loved by Mummy and Daddy, so she can't get enough attention from the world. You sicken me!"

Elphaba said nothing. But it was quite precarious of her: to attack would prove him correct for sure, yet to remain silent was to give consent to his lies as well.

"Chuffy, why are you being so mean?" Glinda asked. "She hasn't harmed anybody, can't we just let her go?"

"No, she's far too big a liability to simply 'let go'," he replied.

"Like that family of Gorillas?" Elphaba asked.

"I'm sorry, what?" he replied. "I haven't the foggiest idea what you're babbling about, witch!"

"This!" she threw a green-leaved newspaper on the ground before them. Carefully opening it, Nicolas saw that it was a three-year-old copy of the _Emerald Herald_.

"I'm afraid you've got it all wrong," he calmly replied. "You see, the Gale Force was putting down a riot that _your_ anarchist band caused. It wasn't a family of Gorillas, it was _one_ Gorilla, and he assaulted a family who had worked for my parents."

"That's where _you're_ wrong," Elphaba replied. "I found him, running from the Gale Force, and he told me a different story. The way _he_ told it, he wasn't even part of the riots. He says that men in violet uniforms broke into his house and beat _his_ wife and children to death, because he wouldn't shut down his shop after it got vandalized _five_ times in the past month!"

"Collateral damage, Witch," Nicolas haughtily replied. "I'm sure you'd understand the ramifications of working with someone like the Wizard. You see, he was going to grant my family more business in the Emerald City than we ever could have received back home in Gilikin. All we had to do was get rid of the Animals in our area, since they were officially banned."

"Kill them?" Elphaba replied.

"It was nothing personal," he calmly returned, his eyes half-closed in an expression of assured victory. "Just good business."

Glinda thought she saw a hazy, vacant expression in Elphaba's eyes, now burning red. A ball of fire shot out of her open hand, sending the guards sprawling to their knees in fear of being burned. Glinda also cowered, but the flames never came close to her.

Just then, there was a flash of green, and Nicolas Chuffrey was thrown from where he stood and pressed back-first against the heavy iron bars of the cage. A haze of green gathered about him, lifting him up, then thrusting him roughly against the bars again. A third time, and then there was a loud, sharp _crack!_ Nicolas cried out, and then the green disappeared. His body fell limply onto the ground before the cages.

"Don't take it personally," Elphaba replied.

Glinda was somewhere between awe and shock. It finally dawned upon her why the train had been stopped that day in Settica: their show, which featured original songs and covers from _Never Silent_ that were pro-Animal Rights and against the bands, must have instigated that riot. Since it made Chuffrey's family's job harder, what with putting down so many Animals, they wanted to stop the _People of Oz_ and bring them in for questioning, or worse.

Just then, Nicolas cried out in pain, then began crying and whining that he couldn't feel anything: not his legs, not his arms, nothing south of his face. Glinda was especially shocked that Elphaba had actually broken his back. Why would she make her boyfriend crippled like that? Elphaba, of all people, would know what it was like living with an invalid!

_How could she do this to me?_

Then another thought, a more optimistic thought, appeared. _Well, he _did_ threaten to __have Elphaba killed onstage. He probably deserved it, if not worse. Besides, there's always..._

_Speak of the Kumbric Witch!_

Fiyero Tiggular, Captain of the Gale Force, entered into the Throne Room, musket in hand. He took one look at Nicolas Chuffrey, then walked over to him, grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, and despite protesting, and cries of pain, dragged him out of the Throne Room. Once they were out, Fiyero shut the door behind him.

"Never liked him anyway," he jokingly said. "Come on, Elphaba. Let's go!"

"Wait, Fiyero!" Glinda spoke up. "What are you doing?"

Fiyero came to a pause, looking at both of them in turn.

"Glinda," he began. "You were my girlfriend back then, and we never really officially broke up. I've just been so caught up with the hunt for..." He pointed the musket in Elphaba's direction. "I never got the chance to tell you, to tell _both_ of you." He paused, then swallowed hard. "I'm leaving with Elphaba."

"What?" Elphaba and Glinda simultaneously and incredulously gasped.

"That was the only reason I was interested in this whole band thing, you know?" Fiyero laughed, hoping he wasn't saying too much. "I wanted to be around you a little more often, trying to build up the courage to tell you."

Glinda was so stunned, she could not even speak. True, she liked Nicolas, but now...now he had threatened Elphie (not to mention was probably crippled for life). She could never go back to him. Ever since that day in the Attic, she felt that, since circumstances pushed the two of them apart - Elphaba and Fiyero - Fiyero was now her fail-safe. If all didn't work out perfectly with Nicolas, she could run back to Fiyero and everything would be right as a spring rain on Mount Runcible.

But now, to be robbed even of him...it was unthinkable!

"Fine, go," Glinda resigned, her eyes downcast. "You deserve each other, after all."

"Glinda, please..."

But before either of them could speak to each other, they left. Glinda was once again alone in Oz.

"Psst!" Glinda looked about, and saw the bespectacled face of the Wizard poking out from one of the emerald-shaded curtains. "Are they gone?"

She nodded. The Wizard then came out of his hiding place.

"I will need to get better security around here," he said. "The way they got in..." He noticed that Glinda looked rather sad. "Hey there, little lady, why the long face?"

Glinda didn't respond, she just sniffled loudly.

"Here, try some of this," he said, producing a green bottle from the inside-sleeve of his jacket. "It takes the edge off life."

"No thank you." Glinda returned. A distant memory urged her not to drink it, though she could not pinpoint where it came from, or why she shouldn't.

* * *

><p><strong>(AN: Yeah, pretty much from here up to a certain point, the standard story-line of the musical takes over, and I shan't burden you with a rehashing of that. I'm sure somebody's written a full version of the musical in prose on here, so you can fill in the blanks.)<strong>

**(But don't worry, I've set up a few important plot-ends here, that you might just get to see played out to their fullest later on.)**


	17. The Show Must Go On

**(AN: New chapter)**

**(As far as the story, I remind you that it's gone according to the musical-verse from then to now. Pretty much "I'm Not That Girl [reprise]" through "No Good Deed" happened to the musical, and afterwards, we now find ourselves here.)**

* * *

><p><strong>The Show Must Go On<strong>

Three years is a long time indeed. It can change people before their very eyes.

Somewhere in Munchkinland, a green carriage from the Emerald City pulled up outside a lowly, Munchkin farm-house. From out of the house walked a Munchkinlander with red hair. Three years had turned a nobody socialite into an every-day Munchkin farmer's wife. She approached the emerald-clad Gale Force soldiers who awaited her. Into her hands they placed what looked like a summons.

It was an advertisement.

The People of Oz Farewell Tour.

They said nothing more, but told her to gather her things and join them for their first stop on the Farewell Tour: the university town of Shiz.

In the carriage that clattered down the Yellow Brick Road, Milla pondered what had become of herself after that fateful day in the Emerald City. The agents of the Wizard told her what to say and she said it, leaving well enough alone and returning to Shiz to finish her degree. One night later and she suddenly found herself out of school and a house-wife in Rush Margins.

Looking outside the window for a moment, she saw an unfortunate soul tied up on a pole in the middle of a corn-field. All of Munchkinland seemed to be on the verge of chaos, what with the recent death of the Wicked Witch of the East. Though she was a nobody among the People of Oz, a backing member, an accessory, she knew which member had a sister who was called, many times by their father, 'the future governor of Munchkinland'.

That poor soul in the corn-field, the Witch, the People of Oz: it all seemed to be coming to an end.

* * *

><p>In Shiz, in an old building that had once been <em>Lakely and Oakes<em> department store, a sad, tortured soul wandered back home. The smell of whiskey and other less-than-legal substances oozed about her person like a hideous miasma. Every so often, a quiet sob would escape her lips. Nobody would believe she was capable of crying, they all thought she melted.

But it was all over now. He was dead, just like Nessa and so many of the Animals of Oz. Her goal, whatever it had been, was failed, the prize just out of reach. As she sulked, the sound of glass breaking snapped her into some semblance of consciousness. She noticed another ragged looking figure, unkempt and unshaven.

"Who's there?" a voice called out. "I'll kill you if you come closer. I mean..." The figure stopped short when the light flooded upon the green-skinned figure before him.

"Look what the cat dragged in," he slurred. "Or is it Cat? I can never tell with you anymore."

"And who are you?" she returned harshly. "Nobody's lived here in three years."

"I was here since the beginning, Fae," the man said. "I have as much of a right to be here as you do."

"Avaric?" she asked with surprise.

"In the flesh!" he proclaimed, waving broadly before collapsing into the filth upon the floor. "What's left of him, that is."

"What in Oz's name happened to you?" she asked.

"Fame happened to me," he laughed. "After you left us, I decided to keep the People of Oz going on just by myself. I spent every last ounce of my father's money and my inheritance to capture what we had back in those days."

"Are you kidding me?" she scoffed. "You hated it, and every one of us. All you did was complain."

"I was the glue that made the People of Oz possible, dammit!" he exclaimed. "I made the band! If not for me, none of this would have-have..." He fell again, shattering another glass bottle and erupting into defeated moans.

"Get lost," she sneered. "I'm done."

"Wait, what?" he asked. "You're done? Just like that?"

"Or haven't you realized?" she returned. "It's finished! The People of Oz are dead."

She turned around and started walking away when something hit her in the back of her head, knocking the hat off her head. She spun around, hands open and ready to lob a deadly fire-ball at the filthy young man lying on the ground.

"Go ahead," he replied. "I've got nothing left to live for!"

She lowered her hands.

"I never admitted it before," he began. "Because I thought I had it all. Hell, I was rich! The world was at my command, I thought I could buy friends and happiness!" He scoffed mirthlessly.

"That was all I wanted," he admitted. "The fame, the money, the attention of the spot-light. I wanted it so badly, I threw my future away by spending all of my money to keep the People of Oz alive with just me. Nobody seemed to care about the People of Oz when I was the only one left, and I wasted my life for nothing.

"It was only after I spent all my money and wound up on the streets like this," he waved to himself. "That I realized the truth. I wanted fame, but I needed friendship. That's what we had, with the People of Oz: five kids doing what we love."

He looked up at her.

"Look at you," he said. "I remember that night when you walked out on-stage clad in only a sign. Something was wrong, I can see it, I have a nose for my own." He held up his bottle. "You're hiding from your pain, I can see it. You don't have to, you don't need to!

"Me? I'm worthless now. I've broken my hands so many times, I can't play anymore. You can't just throw it all away now! As they say in the theater, the show must go on, right? So go on, green thing: don't give up now, because if you give up, if you give up on what we had back then, you're never gonna get it back, and you'll regret it for the rest of your life. I know I do."

There was a moment of silence in _Lakely and Oakes_, as these two former enemies, who hadn't spoken in years, now spoke openly with each other. Or did they? The black clad woman kept her back to the street urchin, and any one looking at them from the outside would think that she was ignoring him.

"That's the biggest load of crap I've ever heard!" Elphaba scoffed at Avaric. She picked up a broken chair and threw it at him, finishing off by spitting in his direction before she left.

* * *

><p><strong>(AN: Elphaba's last words have many meanings. One, this chapter felt like that moment in every movie where some washed-up character shows up in Act III to offer the hero life-altering advice [aka. a harsh dose of reality]. Two, writing said advice is very difficult for me, even in a fictitious setting.<strong>** Three, Elphaba is something of a buzz-kill.)**

**(Any questions before we reach the climax of our story?)**


	18. The Last Hurrah

**(AN: New chapter, to whoever cares any more about this story [namely just me, well, not even, but still...])  
><strong>

**(As you can see in this chapter, this story was originally going to go on much longer, but, as it flopped [reviews mean that at least somebody is reading it, and therefore a good sign: lack of reviews means the story did poorly], I cut the adventure short.)  
><strong>

**(There are a few original songs mentioned here [lol, I thought "Toss Toss (You're the Boss)" sounded like a Glinda song], though "I Will Always Love You", "Audience of One", "Stargazer" and "Prayer for the Refugee" are not [as well as the other song that shall appear]. I don't own those lyrics, they belong to their respective writers. Please don't sue me.)  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>The Last Hurrah<strong>

As a drunken witch was leaving the decrepit ruins of _Lakely and Oakes_, she did not take into account that she had been followed. Staggering along, having quite forgotten her broomstick, she seemed to no longer take notice of her surroundings. Or, perhaps, she didn't care anymore. She couldn't speak to Glinda anymore, Fiyero was as good as dead, and she was beginning to doubt everything about herself: her magic, her plan, even her usefulness in general.

It was then that six large Gale Force soldiers jumped on her from out of seemingly nowhere. On any given day, she was quick and agile, like a thin Serpent: today, she no longer cared. They laid hands on her and held her firmly, while their captain approached her.

It was no captain at all, but a very angry-looking young man in a wheel-chair. No matter how handsome his features were, they could not belie the hatred in his steel, blue eyes.

"We let you escape once," Nicolas Chuffrey snarled. "But not this time, witch."

"Do it," she relented. "Kill me now, that's what you want, isn't it?"

"You took away my legs," he spat back, voice trembling with rage. "And my Glinda."

"She's a free woman..."

"She is _my_ Glinda!" he roared. After a while he composed himself. "His Ozness has permitted that you are to be executed at the final stop of your farewell tour. For the time being, you will go up on stage, opening as the Witch and the Flying Monkeys, then you will perform as the People of Oz. After we have finished the tour, you will die."

"Why not just kill me now?" the witch returned. "I could do something during the tour..."

"I'm absolutely certain you won't try anything of the sort," he returned in an oily smooth voice. "For, you see, if anything untoward were to happen on the tour, His Ozness would be inclined to place blame on the Lady Glinda. Who knows how long she'll be able to hold out in the Southstairs? I personally don't think she'll last long at all."

A weary resignation fell over the green woman as she hung her head and allowed herself to be thrown into the hidden carriage. Despite all that she had done, it seemed, there was no escape from the inevitable end. Elphaba Thropp was going to die.

* * *

><p>For the <em>People of Oz<em>, the beginning of the end would be in the last place any of them ever expected to perform. Back in their days at dear old Shiz, they never would have dreamed of performing there: for all they knew, it was a dance hall alone. And even if they knew that some of Gilikin's most famed musical talents performed there, they would never have been able to perform, having neither the money nor connections for such a venue.

It was summer and the dorms of Crage Hall and Ozma Towers were rented out for the use of the People of Oz Farewell Tour. Many students, hearing of the news of an Oz-famous band performing in their area, and two of them at that, decided to stay on through the summer to see the show. Therefore, even if the Gale Force were not needful, they were now being used as security.

In a familiar dorm-room, the Lady Glinda sat all alone, going over her lines for her opening act: Glinda the Good would head-line, after which the Witch and the Flying Monkeys would take the scene. It was all so preconceived, it seemed kind of unnatural to go out there, knowing what to expect. Deep down inside, also, she felt rotten for what had happened over the last several days. The news of that child from Kansas, now roaming Munchkinland, in search of the Wizard, was hardly a great concern for her, now that her friend was missing. Her thoughts were suddenly disturbed by a knock at the door.

"Come in," she said.

The door was opened and Chuffrey wheeled his way into her room.

"Madam Secretary tells me," he began, starting with small talk. "That this was your room when you were here at Shiz, is that correct?"

"What do you want?" Glinda replied, refusing to play his game.

"Really, I'd still like us to be friends," he replied with a pout. "But, if you insist on being stubborn, I will be forced to take drastic measures."

"Like what?" she asked.

"Please, I want us to be friends," he flashed her a smile, and she rolled her eyes and returned to her mirror. "Better hurry up, you're going to be late."

"I'm not going," Glinda retorted.

"Oh, but I think you will." he shot back. "Because if you don't show, the green freak will die."

Glinda gasped. "You wouldn't!"

"I have her in my custody," Chuffrey stated. "Either you go on-stage, or she dies. I'll leave you alone to think about it, shall I?" He turned his chair around and wheeled himself out of the room. Glinda picked up a brush and threw it after him, but her aim was poor and the brush hit the wall with a loud smack.

* * *

><p>The Oz-Dust Ballroom looked different from when they first saw it. The front wall had been removed and the entire dance floor was now filling with people. On one end a stage was built, with the instruments and amplifiers all up against the wall. Cheers and chants filled the hall, until it seemed as though a thunderstorm had broken out inside the Oz-Dust Ballroom.<p>

Backstage, the chaos was no less. Gale Force soldiers kept watch over all the exits, all of them armed to the teeth. As Glinda was getting ready to go on, Elphaba Thropp stood at the very back, keeping her eyes off her, with two guards on each side of her.

"Where are those damn monkeys?" Chuffrey asked as he wheeled his way into the back-stage area.

"They'll be here," Elphaba replied.

"They better," he returned. "Or your friend dies."

Despite what had happened that afternoon at Center Munch, Elphaba didn't wish any harm to befall Glinda. She was such a small, fragile thing, and the wicked world would just destroy her. Suddenly, a squawk from the rafters alerted the guards and Elphaba. They raised their muskets to fire at it.

"No, don't!" she returned. "He's with me."

Chistery flapped his way down to where Elphaba stood and produced from his waist-coat a chalk-board. Elphaba sighed, then took it as the Monkey thrust it into her hands.

_What happened to you?_

"I got captured, okay?" she bit back. "Listen, get everyone together and bring them back. We're on after Glinda." Once more with the chalk board.

_So now we're working for the Wizard?_

"I don't have a choice," she whispered. "They'll kill Glinda if we don't play."

"Oh, you make it sound like such a bad thing," Chuffrey mocked.

"Just get the hell out of here!" Elphaba snapped. She then turned to Chistery and whispered something in his ear.

"What's that?" Chuffrey asked. "What did you tell it?"

"You'll never know," Elphaba sang back to him.

"Tell me, or I'll..."

"Kill Glinda?" she retorted, a strange boldness leaping up within her. "She's onstage now, look." She pointed to the stage, where Glinda was performing an animated version of "Toss Toss (You're the Boss)". "If you hurt her now, you'll only be hurting yourself. Her fans will tear you apart."

"Oh, don't you worry," he replied. "I have other ways of getting information."

On that sour note, he wheeled himself away, leaving Elphaba to tell Chistery to get the others together. She then swallowed hard and looked down at a sheet of paper in her hands, trying to memorize her own lines.

* * *

><p>The crowds went wild for Glinda the Good, singing along with every song and shouting her name during every break. After another preconceived speech from Madam Fish-face, she bade her loving fans farewell, telling them where they would be for the next stop of their Farewell Tour. All smiles and waves, she departed: once back-stage, she ran out of the Oz-Dust Ballroom and wept. Never before had she felt so wretched while doing what she loved. Elphaba was in danger: no, worse, she knew what they were going to do; her time was short, and what was she, Glinda, doing about it? Nothing!<p>

When the _Witch and the Flying Monkeys_ made their dramatic entrance, sparks of many different colors flashing from Elphaba's finger-tips and a heart-pounding drum-solo from Nicko, the crowds cheered loudly. Many had seen them while they were a small venue band, and now they had achieved nearly Oz-wide stardom. Every voice roared and cheered. Song after song they plowed through, the Monkeys doing what they did best. Only Elphaba seemed to be distant: she had no time to change or rest before the _People of Oz_ came on.

After "Voice of the Silent", Elphaba gave hand-gestures to the others, and they started their own free-form jam session: bass, guitar, keyboard and drums played on with outstanding endurance: sometimes it could last at least twenty to thirty minutes. While they were busy, Elphaba wandered off-stage, then produced the little green bottle from her dress.

"Elphie, don't!" she heard a voice say.

Looking around, she saw Glinda, wearing a huge sparkling blue dress that looked as though it were made out of a million, deflated bubbles, standing there with a concerned look on her face.

"Go away, I have nothing more to say to you," Elphaba returned.

"That's what it is, isn't it?" Glinda asked. "You've been doing..." She made a noise. "...It's not right!"

"And betrayal is?"

"Elphie, please. It's hurting you, I can see it."

"It's not hurting me, it's killing the pain."

"It will kill you too!" Glinda reached out and took the bottle from Elphaba's hand. "You wanna end up like Avaric?"

"Don't you dare compare me to that slime..."

"Elphie, I know you don't want to hear this, but somebody's got to say it," her voice took on a kind of strength and authority disproportionate to her other-wise cute, bubbly, innocent demeanor. "You are out of control!"

"Why? Because I don't want to remember my horrible past? Because I want that little brat to pay for killing my sister?"

Suddenly, Elphaba collapsed into a mess of tears. Glinda tried to put her arms around her, but Elphaba shoe'd her away. A guard approached and fingered his gun in his grip. Glinda didn't know what to do or say.

"Get on out there!" the guard ordered.

With weary resignation, the green woman rose up, not even looking at the guard, disappeared in a cloud of red smoke, only to appear back on-stage to cheering and applause as they broke into a round of "Stargazer".

Glinda must have seen this song performed so many times, she knew the words and, despite her huge heels and ridiculously cumbersome bubble gown, could keep up with the "crazy monkey drumming" of Nicko on this song. She mouthed wordlessly as Elphaba, the Witch, belted out the tale of the Wizard who wanted to climb to the top of the world but fell. It was seditious, but the crowd loved it. Some of the guards appeared, trying to pull her off-stage for it, but she struck them down with balls of fire from her hands. The audience thought it was part of the show and ate it up.

Towards the end of the song, she suddenly became aware that something different was happening. Several other members of the troupe of Flying Monkeys flew down from the rafters, bearing string instruments, and joined the band on-stage. As Elphaba sang: "I see a rainbow rising!", they joined in with the band. Elphaba's voice soared to new heights and it seemed the very roof would explode and they would rise up into the air.

When at last it all ended, Glinda joined the audience in shrieking and cheering. It was her finest hour on-stage in a thousand years of performances.

* * *

><p>At last, the <em>People of Oz<em> were to come on-stage. Glinda was thrust a sheet of words to say that would herald their appearance, and while she was looking them over, she saw several people walking past her: two men and a young woman among them. To her surprise, the two men had dark and blond hair and were dressed almost exactly like Fiyero and Avaric had been when she last saw them. The young girl had blond hair, a short kick-skirt and, which made Glinda's mouth hang open like a cave.

Pink, fuzzy-topped drum-sticks.

"Ex-squeeze-me, just a tick-tock!" Glinda said, throwing herself in between the new-comers. "Just who are you people?"

"Well, we're the band," the one dressed as Fiyero said. "I play the bass, Av's the guitarist."

"But I'm Glinda!" she exclaimed. "I've got to go out there and play!"

"No, you can't!" the young girl returned.

"Why not?"

"Well, for one thing," the girl said with a condescending tone for one so young. "You can't play drums in those heels, or in that dress. Even if you could, Lord Chuffrey wants us on-stage: the other members couldn't be found."

"But what about Ramon?" Glinda asked. "The little Raccoon who played the keyboard. Who's going to..."

Just then, a real member of the People of Oz stepped forward. Glinda was amazed to see Milla standing there. Little red-haired Milla: motherhood had been kind to her so far, she still seemed to have her figure about her.

"Hello, Your Goodness," Milla greeted.

Glinda used all of her energies to keep from tearing up at this reunion: _if only Fifi were still here_, she thought. But her thoughts were interrupted as she saw that little blond trollop bounce past her towards the edge of the stage. With an angry huff, she walked over to the guard.

"Go find Jelly." she ordered.

"Who?"

"I mean, Jellia Jamb, my maid. I need her to do something for me."

As the Flying Monkeys cleared off their gear, Glinda walked out on to an empty stage, approached the microphone stand - Elphaba didn't use one - and addressed the crowd.

"And now, the moment you've all been waiting for!" she announced. The crowds started to go insane. "For three years you've wondered and ponderated where they might be, now, please welcome, the _People of Oz_!"

As the cheering grew the loudest, she stepped off-stage and watched the rest. Elphaba appeared, still wearing her black dress from the Witch and the Flying Monkeys. The Glinda-double bounced on-stage and hopped over to her drum-set: the imitation was so ridiculous that Glinda's palm closed over her face in embarrassment.

_Sweet Oz, I was never like that._

Elphaba, she was sure, knew something was up as she saw these pretenders take the stage with her. She didn't even have the comfort of being there with her Glinda: the only one she actually knew was Milla, and that not all that well, and so couldn't confide anything in her. So it was Glinda had to watch while her reunion went on without her.

To be fair, the musicians had practiced their material well enough, but they did not bring to the stage any of the fire that the People of Oz had: they were just copy-cats. Glinda, who was at this point ready to leave, saw one of the Monkeys hanging around. Suddenly she decided to enact phase two of her plan; at least, this would be the second phase if she had a plan and weren't just winging it.

"You!" she said. "You're one of Elphie's monkeys, right?" The Monkey nodded, then Glinda produced several pages of sheet music. "Can you read this?" Another nod. "Good, I want the other Monkeys to rehearse for this, I want to sing it with Elphie before it's too late." He nodded again and was leaving, but suddenly Glinda heard a new song playing from the stage. It was surprising, because she had never heard this song before. As it played out, she discovered that it was an old Never Silent song that she had never heard before.

Unlike the other songs of theirs, this one seemed so much more personal, not just another out-cry against injustice against which they were powerless. It seemed to mean something, both for Elphaba and for Glinda. For one moment, they locked eyes.

_And you ran away _  
><em>Now all my friends are gone <em>  
><em>Maybe we've outgrown <em>  
><em>All the things that we once loved<em>

In that one, infinite moment, both eyes - blue and dark brown flecked with gray - shed a tear. It seemed to hit home, breaking down every barrier, every pretense, and revealed how she felt in that one moment. In truth, Glinda knew she had betrayed Elphaba, and now was doing it again.

_No_, she thought to herself, _I _can_ do something!_

* * *

><p>But the next three shows, Glinda seemed to just go through the motions. Never Silent's "Audience of One" didn't pop up in the set-list of either the <em>Witch and the Flying Monkeys<em> or Elphie and the Peeps, as Glinda called the 'new' line-up of the _People of Oz_. After all, that's what it was: just a bunch of Gilikinese people dressed up as herself and her friends, and two Munchkinlanders, one fearful and the other green. Yes, she knew Milla was afraid. Elphaba was distant, but she, Glinda, was more than able to speak with Milla. The security around every place they went was more than she could bear: she felt like, at any moment, she could get hurt.

Meanwhile, the Monkeys were her only connection to the green-skinned woman, cloistered away in some make-shift holding cell that followed them wherever they went. They rehearsed the music she gave them, but since they could not get to Elphaba, she could not rehearse at all. Already Glinda started to think it was silly, going through with this whole idea. But she had to do it, the time was close at hand. During the tour, she had eaves-dropped on several conversations and learned that, during some point at the last show of the _People of Oz_ at the last tour date, Elphaba would be shot on-stage.

Kiamo Ko. She had heard about the place, mostly from Fiyero, bragging about how his family owned two castles and such. This was the home of the Wicked Witch of the West, and the final stop of the People of Oz Farewell Tour. Glinda could not breathe a word about what was going to happen to anyone: eventually Lord Chuffrey found out and threatened her in every way he thought possible, even down to threatening her family with loss of property, imprisonment, and even death. Whatever it would take to keep her quiet, and it worked.

Or so he thought.

Kiamo Ko barely looked like a castle as they arrived at it: sure enough, there was some general outline of what used to be a fortress shaped like a horse-shoe with towers protruding from the corners which looked out at each end of Oz's compass: north, south, east and west. Yet it had been totally transformed: wooden poles dotted the yellow fields, trailing long lines out east-ward, and huge blank sheets of linen had been erected on the outside of the castle. All around the castle, a fence had been erected as well: here the people would gather and, as Glinda learned, on those sheets of linen, they would watch the show.

It seemed ridiculous.

"It's all part of the Wizard's latest invention," Chuffrey exclaimed as four Gale Force soldiers carried his wheel-chair over the rocky terrain. "See, what it will do is capture motion and sound and transmit them to the Emerald City: from there, all of Oz will be able to see the show."

She nodded, fearing what would happen. Now all of Oz would see the death to come, or execution, as she knew it to be more like. Then a new thought entered into her mind: with so many eyes seeing Elphie as she _really_ was, maybe this was a good thing: they would see her without the prejudice of the Wizard's propaganda...only to see her murdered before their very eyes. The thought faded like a bubble popped by a sharp pin-leaf.

A strange timidity over-came her during her own set, and she broke down twice during "I Will Always Love You", her fingers shaking so badly that one of her stage-hands had to jump on-stage and play the piano for her. She then ran off-stage, hands over her eyes and threw herself into one of the deserted stone hallways. While she wept, the _Witch and the Flying Monkeys_ made their explosive entrance to "Never Again". Just then, she saw two Gale Force soldiers walking by.

"...I told him we already know what to do," one said to the other. "He said, 'It doesn't matter, shoot her in the head.'"

The rest was lost on Glinda's ears. She feared for Elphaba's safety. Even if her plan worked - which looked in and of itself quite doubtful - she couldn't protect Elphaba if they were aiming for her head. She wept through the whole set of the _Witch and the Flying Monkeys_. Suddenly, her weeping was interrupted by someone tripping over her legs.

"Watch it, you!" a voice shot back.

"Oh, I'm so..." Glinda began, then she saw who it was.

"Um, just stay out of my way." her Peep double shot back haughtily.

"Wait just a tick-tock!" Glinda sang. "Do you know who I am?"

"Glinda the Good, right?"

"Would you like my autograph?" she asked.

The girl shook her head. "Look, I have to get on-stage."

"I was in the _People of Oz_, originally."

"Fine, whatever." She looked down on her person for something she could give Glinda to write with, and then before she could react, Glinda had brought a heavy bucket down on the girl's head, knocking her out.

"Sorry, trollop," she hissed at the blond double. "But nobody mimics Glinda Upland!" She picked up the body and looked around for a place to put it when, by some sheer accident, a trap-door opened and the body fell down into it. Glinda gave a start, but, now that her double was gone, she could put her plan into motion.

Tossing off her ridiculous heels, she ran over to where her stage-hands were hanging out after the show and waved Jellia Jamb over.

"Do you have...the thing?" she asked.

The little girl nodded.

"Good, it's time."

* * *

><p>"Ladies and gentlemen," Lord Chuffrey announced. "Now appearing for the last time ever, broadcast live from Kiamo Ko, the Wizard himself is pleased to present you with...the <em>People of Oz<em>!"

The crowd before him cheered: he had arranged to announce them at the last show, and he basked in the glory, though it was not meant for him. As he clapped and then turned his chair around, he got a surprise he was not expecting. Instead of his three agents walking out with Milla in tow, he saw Glinda, Milla, and two of those filthy monkeys the Witch took with her wherever she went walking out on-stage.

"What in Oz's name is this?" he hissed at Glinda.

"The _People of Oz_," she returned.

"You're not supposed to be out here!"

"I'm with the band," she said, walking gracefully over to the drum-set. She waited until Chuffrey was gone, before she wrapped her hands behind her back and began undoing the skirt of her floor-length dress. It fell off, replaced by a knee-high skirt made of the same bubble material she had commissioned Jellia Jamb to make at the last minute. In this "bubble skirt", she could still sparkle and glitter, but now she had the freedom to play the heck out of the drum-kit.

Memories of those first few shows flashed through her mind. Even back here, with three-fifths of the People of Oz back together, the reunion didn't seem the same without Fiyero or Avaric: yes, even snobby Avaric Tenmeadows was missed in Glinda's mind. As she saw Elphaba take the microphone, ready to begin, she pulled the microphone stand nearby her drum-kit, which she herself had had placed there, and spoke to the crowd.

"Before we begin," Glinda said. "I'd like to say we're all grateful for this humongous turn-out. This one is for Av and 'Yero: wherever you are, we love you and miss you."

More cheers from the crowd, then Glinda gripped her pink, fuzzy drum-sticks firmly in her manicured hands. A funny thought passed through her mind as she envisioned what would happen if she had two wands instead of drum-sticks. But they were on, and so she clacked the sticks together, Chistery played out the bass-line intro and with roars and screams from the audience, the _People of Oz_ began their last show ever.

The first song, an original track, went off without a hitch. It seemed to stir Elphaba to be back on-stage, at least with Glinda here. Now they were at least three-fifths of the _People of Oz_, feeling more like the old days than the previous days. While Glinda rushed over to a near-by mic-stand she had commandeered to hang over her drum-kit (for now she could play and sing at the same time), she peered through the heavy stage-lights shining on the stage, hoping to catch some glimpse of something, anything. Just then, she saw movement in one of the castle's towers. Looking to another tower, she saw the muzzle of a musket peering out from the tower windows. Looking behind her, at the two towers she could look at without being blinded by the stage-lights, she saw clearly Gale Force snipers, one in each tower, with their muzzles aimed directly onstage: directly at the singer.

_What am I going to do_, she asked herself.

* * *

><p>The <em>People of Oz<em> plowed through the next two songs without incident, and the crowds were going crazy for them.

"This next song," Elphaba spoke to the crowd. "It's one of our favorites, we've played it at almost every show we've been to, from our favorite band, _Never Silent_: this is called 'Prayer of the Refugee!'"

Glinda smiled as the old, familiar tune kicked back to life. The two monkeys dancing around Elphaba with their instruments surely were having fun, and both Milla and Glinda sang and harmonized with Elphaba as they tore through the song and all the memories of the 'good old days'. Then the bridge kicked in and the song had a brand new meaning for Glinda. She sang along proudly, her hands shaking as they struck the heads of her drum-set, and when it was all over, she kept smashing the cymbals over and over, as if to keep the song going a little bit longer.

It was more than just enjoyment that made Glinda smash away on the cymbals. She feared where the show was going. It was the last song, she knew, and they usually only played four or five songs before an encore during this Farewell Tour. Dread filled her being as she knew what was inevitable: she didn't want the night to end, not only for the enjoyment of being back on-stage with her friends, but because, when it did, one of them would be dead.

As they were finishing up, another one of the monkeys flew on-stage and handed something to Elphaba. With an amplified _thud_, her microphone fell out of her hand as she looked at the piece of paper in her emerald hands. Whatever it was, Glinda knew it could not be good. Feedback started echoing through the amps with the fall of her mic and Glinda knew she had to do something. Zipping her long dress back up, she left the drum-set, picked up the microphone and addressed the crowd.

"How's everybody doing out there?" she called out. A sea of cheers arose from the audience in response. "It seems Fae is a little winded, so I'm gonna talk to you, okay?" Scattered applause, whistles and other things not so nice came back at her.

"You know, tonight's a very special night," she continued. "This is the last show of our Farewell Tour. On behalf of the _People of Oz_, I'd just like to say how thrillified we are to see each and every one of you out here tonight." More cheers. Looking out, she noticed faces in particular. A drunken street-urchin with filthy blond hair was leaning against the side of one of the castle walls on the edge of the crowd. She thought she saw two familiar faces somewhere near the back, but, making their way to the front, were four of the strangest characters she had ever set eyes upon: a lion (or was it a Lion?), a walking scarecrow, a man of metal and a little girl. She knew the girl, at least, but who were the others, and why were they here?

"And because tonight is our last show, we're going to make it extra special," Glinda soldiered on. "We've got a new song for you, it's a little bit different. Written by one of our original members: this one..." She suddenly found herself breaking up, on-stage and before quite literally everyone in Oz. "...This one is a song about friendship and what you would say to your best friend if you knew you would never, ever see them again."

She turned away from the microphone and nodded at Chistery. The monkey flew off-stage and came back with several other monkeys, all of them bearing instruments. But they were not the typical guitar and bass of the usual set-up: strings, woodwind and even a few brass instruments took the stage, each with a monkey to perform along it. They did not move the rest of the gear, they played around it: if they needed more room, they would climb up the rigging and play there.

While this was going on, the green woman turned to Glinda.

"What is this?" she asked.

"A surprise," Glinda shouted back over the roar of the crowd.

"I don't like surprises," Elphaba shot back. "Besides, the encore is next. We haven't rehearsed for this!"

Glinda sighed. "Please, Elphie. Do this, for me...but more importantly, for the Animals."

Chistery walked forward and gave the last bits of the sheet music to Glinda; one of the pages she gave to Elphaba. Once they were in the green woman's hands and her eyes began to scan the page, Elphaba saw her chest rise, but did not fall: as if she gasped and could not again draw breath. Glinda was suddenly interrupted by a tap on her shoulder.

"Um, should I leave?" Turning around, she saw Milla standing there. Glinda shook her head.

"No, you've practiced for this," she said. "We need someone on the piano."

The little Munchkinlander nodded, then made her way back to her keyboard. Elphaba, Glinda saw, was still shaking as she looked at the pages. What was going on in her mind, Glinda wondered. She, for all the chaos of the past several weeks, seemed to finally be unafraid, if only for a moment. Here she was, on a stage with her very best friend, and nothing else mattered.

_Yes_, Glinda thought. _Nothing else matters_. It didn't worry her that they had different musical tastes, it didn't matter that she was rich and spoiled and Elphaba was a despised pariah, or even if the _People of Oz_ were famous. Just being here, with the person that she loved, was enough: at last she understood why Fiyero had done this all those years ago, and, at last, she could forgive him.

Turning back to the monkeys she waved at them, then turned to Elphaba as the keyboard and strings brought the song to life. It was very different than anything the _People of Oz_ had ever played, a product of Ramon the Raccoon's days as an orchestra conductor and composer. The sound was soft and melodic, and it carried across the entire castle, even outside its grounds where the majority of the crowds lingered. Glinda turned to Elphaba and began.

_I've heard it said  
>That people come into our lives<br>For a reason  
>Bringing something we must learn<br>And we are lent  
>To those who help us most to grow<br>If we let them  
>And we help them in return<em>

_Well, I don't know if I believe that's true  
>But I know I'm who I am today<br>Because I knew you  
><em>

_Like a comet pulled from orbit  
>As it passed a sun<br>Like a stream that meets a boulder  
>Half-way through the wood<br>_

_Who can say if I've been changed for the better?  
>But, because I knew you, I have been changed<br>For Good_

Elphaba took a moment to look at the words on the page, then turned and replied:

_It well may be  
>That we may never meet again<br>In this lifetime  
>So let me say before we part<br>So much of me  
>Is made from what I've learned from you<br>You'll be with me__  
>Like a hand-print on my heart<em>

_And now, whatever way our stories end  
>I know you have rewritten mine<br>By being my friend  
><em>

_Like a ship blown from its mooring  
>By a wind off the sea<br>Like a seed dropped by a sky-bird  
>In a distant wood<br>_

_Who can say if I've been changed for the better?  
>But, because I knew you...<br>_

_Because I knew you_, Glinda replied.

**_I have been changed  
>For Good<em>**

Suddenly, Elphaba turned away, seemingly throwing the music on the ground. Glinda's heart skipped a beat; _what in Oz's name is she doing__?_ Then, more speaking than singing, Elphaba spoke to her friend.

"And just to clear the air," she said. "I ask forgiveness for the things I've done, and whatever you've blamed me for."

Glinda did not wonder where that came from: she knew it wasn't on the page, they were supposed to conclude by repeating the pre-chorus, then re-state the last part. But she found herself moved by those words. Out of nowhere, she replied, singing:

_But then, I guess, we know there's blame to share_

And for one moment, as if they were back in _Lakely and Oakes_ again, united in their endeavors by an invisible sixth member, the thing that united them and made them harmonize, they sang with one voice:

_**And none of it seems to matter anymore**__**!**_

_**Like a comet pulled from orbit...  
>Like a ship blown from it's mooring...<br>As it passes a sun...by a wind off the sea  
><strong>_

_**Like a stream that meets a boulder...  
>Like a seed dropped by a bird...<br>****Half-way through...in a**** wood**_**  
><strong>

_**Who can say...if I've been changed for the better?  
>I do believe I have been changed for the<strong>_** better****  
><strong>

For a moment they paused and turned to look at each other, the magic of that moment in the Oz-Dust Ballroom, so many years ago, when they finally became friends, when they moved in harmony, was alive again.

_And..._ Glinda sang, placing her hand on Elphaba's shoulder. _Because I knew you_

_Because I knew you_, Elphaba replied, removing the little pink hand and taking it up in her own, long-fingered green one.

_**Because I knew**_** you**, they sang together.

_**I have been changed...**_

All of Oz paused for a single moment, as the reeds played their melody, then...

_**For**** Good**_

Without thinking, they wrapped their arms around each other as the audience erupted in cheers and applause.

* * *

><p><strong>(AN: Yes, fellow Ozians, "For Good" is the song! [don't sue me, Stephen Schwartz!] If you've waited this long, I hope you enjoyed that.)<strong>


	19. Finale

**(AN: For what it's worth, I liked this story at first, when the idea was fresh. Unfortunately, Gleeks and a certain rp-er on tumblr have made a _Wicked_ band story seem stupid and born a special kind of loathing towards Elphaba within me. However, even before that, I knew that this story had to end in a certain way.)  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Finale<strong>

The moment that lasted forever was now over. Glinda and Elphaba were lost amid cheers and cries for the encore. Suddenly, Glinda felt strong hands pull her out of Elphaba's arms and back toward the drum-set. She looked around and saw that two Gale Force soldiers had pulled her back to her drum-kit, where the wheel-chair bound Sir Chuffrey was hiding just off-stage.

"So," he spoke with frustration. "Thought you could pull one over me, did you? Hmm?" Glinda didn't respond.

"Get her out of here," he said to the guards.

"No matter what you do to me," she said, as they were taking her away. "I'll make sure all of Oz knows what you and the Wizard have done! I'll tell them all the truth about how evil you are!"

"Evil?" Chuffrey laughed. "Don't be so naive, dear. Evil is what I say it is, because I'm the one in charge. Besides, who'd believe you if you told them the Wicked Witch of the West was actually a friend and the Wonderful Wizard of Oz was their enemy? They'd just turn against you, make you their enemy."

"I don't care," Glinda replied.

"How about your friend?" he gestured to Elphaba, who was now addressing the screaming crowds. He then turned about and whispered something to the guards. He then wheeled back off-stage, while the guards kept Glinda in their grasp.

The crowds were screaming for an encore. Glinda's heart was racing within her chest as she felt something was happening. Another guard appeared, dragging the Glinda impersonator behind her and sitting her down at the drum-set. Glinda was feeling incensed: she wasn't even allowed to finish the show!

The encore was an original _People of Oz_ song, though Glinda couldn't recall when she had heard it. Then again, there was a lot of things going on on the road that she didn't know about. Ramon and Elphaba were usually together, writing up lyrics for the songs they would play, Glinda rarely got to see what was being written. Then again, she herself had written a few numbers without those two, for obvious reasons... But she wasn't thinking about that now; not the song or its structure, or how beautiful Elphaba's voice was, even tired and forlorn, as it belted out the magnificent words. Glinda was looking at the front-row: those four, odd-looking people she had seen in the crowd were now muscling their way to the front. The metal one helped the little girl up onto the lion's back (she couldn't hear if it was a Lion or not, but then again, what with all the bans and the tight security, any Animal with a brain wouldn't make it known that he/she was anything more than an animal). The overwhelming glimmer and shine of the stage-lights caught on the smooth round barrel of something metal.

There was a loud noise, and suddenly Elphaba collapsed on-stage.

* * *

><p>Sheer and utter mayhem broke out in Kiamo Ko. The sound of gunfire sent everyone running and screaming for their lives. People were being trampled to death in a mad rush for the exits, an owl and his donkey companion were hiding up against the wall, braying and hooting in fear, and the little girl and her friends were now missing. The Monkeys were gone, the Gale Force had disappeared, and that little blond trollop had ran off, screaming and whining like a frightened school girl. On the stage, Elphaba was not moving, but nobody seemed to care.<p>

Suddenly, Glinda felt strong hands seize her arms as she was being dragged off-stage.

"Take your hands off me!" she screamed and cried with all of her might. "I...Let go of me! **_ELPHIE NEEDS_ _HELP!_**"

Whether her own struggling finally won out, or whether something more than physical happened in that moment, is unknown. What is known is that Glinda pushed her way out of the guards' grasp and threw herself down in the direction of Elphaba, grasping at whatever her hands could reach. It only lasted for a moment, for as soon as she had fallen flat on her face (and chest, though she was in so much pain, she felt numb to anything else by now), the guards picked her up and dragged her away off the stage.

* * *

><p>Back in the throne room of the Emerald Palace at the Emerald City, that odd little red-whiskered guard Omby Amby was red-faced with frustration and terror as he ran back from the main gate and into the throne room. The sight he found, however, was not a darkened throne with the terrifying Giant Head. Instead, he saw a great throne, empty of all save for a little old man. That scary, fish-faced woman was pacing nervously about, and Sir Chuffrey was glowering in his chair.<p>

"This is all _your_ fault!" Madam Morrible hissed at Sir Chuffrey. "You arranged that...Farewell Tour, and made sure that all of Oz knew about it in the process! _I'm_ in charge of the press around here, if you don't recall!"

"Oh, everyone slips up now and then," Chuffrey dismissed. "This'll be forgotten in a week."

"A week?" she brayed in amazement. "Do you not hear the crowds? They're calling for our heads! Well, _your_ head, to be precise!" She turned to the Wizard. "Oh, if you'd just let me kill her when we had the chance!"

"I never wanted to harm her," the old man sighed. "I really thought we might be able to convince her."

"Oh, this is no time to be sentimental!" Chuffrey barked at the Wizard. "She was your enemy, and Oz is better off without her."

"Thanks to you," Madam Press-Secretary replied. "All of Oz wants us dead! You let your little accident get broadcast across civilized Oz. You made the Wizard and his guards appear to be murderers!"

"Oh, why not?" Chuffrey replied. "She was a wicked old witch who got what was coming to her. The people of Oz will accept that if we tell it to them. After all, we still own the press, right?"

"This was a mistake from the start!" Madam Morrible groaned angrily. "You gave the Wicked Witch a platform to speak her lies against the Wizard, and then you killed her in front of their eyes, giving them reason to believe her! You, Sir Nicolas Chuffrey, have your hands full!"

"Well, well..." Chuffrey stammered. "Well, what about Glinda? Huh? She's still some kind of celebrity, A-Ambassador of Good and all. Why doesn't she go out and-and tell Oz that everything's alright? Huh? Tha-That Goodness has prevailed against wicked witches?"

"Yes, Glinda," Madam Morrible turned to the pathetic pile of soiled blue bubble dress in the corner. "Why don't you make yourself useful for a change?"

Glinda had not stopped crying since Kiamo Ko. Now she was huddled up in a corner of the Palace, clutching the one thing she could find of Elphaba's. She was taken away when the body was still on-stage, and now she didn't know what had become of her: probably looted and viol...thinking about what became of Elphaba's body didn't make the pain go away, didn't give her any sense of closure. It only made the tears come again.

"She's useless!" Chuffrey roared, then wheeled himself away. In a fit of rage, something came flying at the back of his chair. It missed, but as it hit the floor, something small rolled out of the depths of it.

"What's that?" Madam Morrible asked, gesturing at the missile.

It was a black hat, tall peaked and wide-brimmed. It had such a history: from Larena's mother to young Galinda's wardrobe, where it was gathering dust for being 'hideodious', directly into Elphaba's hands. She wore it while she was the Wicked Witch, and it was the only thing Glinda was able to take from where Elphaba had been shot.

What fell out of the hat, however, was a different story. It was the thing which Glinda had retrieved from Elphaba, now lying up and exposed for all to see.

The Wizard walked off his throne and picked up the tiny green bottle.

"Where did you get this?" he asked Glinda.

"From El..." she choked back a sob. "From _her_. Don't drink it! It'll do horrible things to you."

"Where did _she_ get it from?" he asked, disregarding her warning as he examined the bottle.

"She said it was her mother's," Glinda replied. Suddenly, her eyes exploded to the size of saucers, and she rose up from her spot on the floor.

"I've only seen a little green bottle like one other time," she said. Her eyes did not leave the old man as she spoke. "It was here, in this room." All the memories came back into her mind as she approached him with a confrontational glare in her blue eyes.

"_You_ offered me a drink from it!" she said to the Wizard.

The Wizard's hands were shaking as he held the green bottle in his hand, as if it were evidence of some great evil, of some horrible deed.

"Did you..." he muttered. "Say it belonged to...Oh, dear Lord!" He collapsed into a pile of weeping, as he held the bottle in his hands in sudden revelation and shock.

"That's it!" exclaimed Madam Morrible with glee. "That explains why she had such power!"

Suddenly, Glinda approached the Wizard, a look of revulsion and supreme purpose in her eyes.

"I want you to leave Oz," she said determinedly. "I'll make a pronouncement, that the strains of Wizardship have been too much, and that you are taking an extended leave of absence." The little old man was weeping, his head bowed and ignoring all else save for his pain.

"Did you hear what I just said?" Glinda returned.

"Yes," he sobbed. "Yes, Your Goodness."

"Well, then," she replied. "You better get your balloon ready." She waved him off, and the little old man shuffled out of the Throne Room, broken and guilty.

"GUARDS!" Glinda shouted in a voice that would make her younger, carefree self scream in shock and amazement.

"Glinda, dear!" Madam Morrible sang. "I know we've had our miniscule differentiations in the past, but..." Too late, the doors opened and a small platoon of Gale Force soldiers appeared, pole-arms at the ready. Glinda now looked Madam Morrible dead in the eyes, a look of disgust in her eyes.

"Madam," she said. "Have you ever considered how you'd fare in captivity?"

"What?"

"Captivity," Glinda mouthed slowly. "You know, what you've put the Animals of Oz into! Also known as **_prison!_**" Madam Morrible's already sheet-white face lost whatever color there was left in it as Glinda continued.

"You see, I don't think you'll last very long," she mocked, recalling an incident many years ago in the Oz-Dust Ballroom, what seemed now like the centrifuge of the entire change in her adult life. "My personal opinion is that you, Madam Morrible, simply do not have what it takes." She flashed the ex-Press Secretary a mocking smile. "I hope you'll prove me wrong. I doubt you will." She then turned to the guards and, in that commanding voice with which she summoned them, shouted out their orders: "Take her away!"

The guards disappeared, amidst her protests, into some dark hole in the Southstairs. Glinda, whatever she had done in her past, was not a murderer: even Galinda could not have actually killed anyone, despite her shallowness and general apathy for anyone other than herself. She would let old age (_She's rather old already_, she thought) take its toll on Madam Morrible in her life-time sentence in the prison from whence no one returned.

Just then, she turned on the last one left. He couldn't escape, as Madam Morrible was trying to while Glinda was passing judgment on her. The only place he could go was outside, and that was not looking to be a survivable option.

"Uh," Chuffrey smiled as Glinda walked towards him with determination. "I hope you bear _me_ no ill-will, eh? I was just following orders, looking after the interests of my family and of my company. Just good business after all, eh? Please, don't kill me or...or imprison me!"

"I don't have to," she said. "You see, you used me, just as you tried to use the Farewell Tour to get all of Oz to follow your lies. Unfortunately, you made a mistake at Kiamo Ko."

"And-and what mistake was that?" he laughed nervously.

"You broadcasted the Kiamo Ko show live and unedited to all of Oz," she said. "Everyone got to see what you orchestrated before you could cover your tracks."

"B-b-but-but-but," Chuffrey stammered. "What does that have to do with me? It-It was Dorothy, wasn't it? That odd little girl from Kanzas, or wherever she said she was from! The Wizard asked _her_ to kill the Witch, right? What do you have against me?"

"You used her as well," Glinda said. "But you underestimated something very important."

"What was that?"

"Her good nature," Glinda returned. "You see, not only would nobody believe that a little girl could kill anyone, but they also saw that it was _not_ said little girl who killed her, but Gale Force guards acting on _your_ orders!"

"P-p-Please, spare me! After all, we're together, aren't we? I'm your Chuffy-poops!"

"Toodles, 'Chuffy-poops'," she mocked. "Your public is waiting for you." She then rang a bell.

"Y-Yes, Your Goodness!" Omby Amby said, snapping to attention at the sound of the bell.

"Please escort Lord Nicolas Chuffrey out of the palace," she said. "Then shut the door once he is out."

"Yes, Your Goodness!" the little man with the red whiskers took the back of Lord Chuffrey's chair and started to wheel him out towards the on-coming crowds. His whining, wailing cries for Glinda's mercy were even more blood-curdling than Madam Morrible's hand been. Glinda averted her eyes from the long hallway that led out of the Emerald Throne Room.

It was his fault in the end, she realized. He let the last show be broadcasted publicly, letting all of Oz see the green girl for what she truly was, then executed her right before their very eyes. A certain kind of harsh, cruel justice was enacted here, Glinda realized: he who had been the Wizard and Morrible's strongest supporter had dug his own grave while digging _her_ grave as well.

"Oh, Elphie," she sobbed out loud. "I wish I could have saved you!" She collapsed once again, her hand covering her hot, tear-stained eyes.

* * *

><p><em>Somewhere in Kiamo Ko...<em>

Avaric Tenmeadows was there at the bitter end. He saw the Owl and the Donkey, "fans" who had followed _The Witch and the Flying Monkeys_ since the beginning, hide and cower when she was shot, then, after the smoke was cleared, brag about how they would have wrestled the guards down and saved Fae from death. It sickened him, how fake they were.

_He_, Avaric Tenmeadows, the one who had been the ass since the beginning, who had made being a member of the _People of Oz_ a chore, was stepping out from the shadows of vagrancy and anonymity to do his part for the ones he loved. Yes, he loved them. He had wasted his life treating the only people who cared that much for him like crap, and now he would make up for it.

Wrapped up in a black sheet was the green woman's body. He had to find someplace safe to bury it. During the commotion after she was shot, he made his way onto the stage and opened a secret trapdoor directly beneath her. He would not let those who still believed the Wizard's lies loot and desecrate her body. Even the thought of what they might have done with her corpse was enough to make him lose what little he had in his stomach.

He was now dragging the sheet through the secret tunnels beneath Kiamo Ko. He was getting lost now; he only discovered the one trapdoor, he never had enough time to explore all the secret tunnels. Now was his chance: he could lose himself within here, find a place no one else knew and a suitable resting place for Elphaba Thropp. The green Munchkinlander, called "The Wicked Witch of the West", would have her final resting place in the Vinkus.

The tunnels were stiflingly hot, and he himself was weak and famished. He placed the sheet holding Elphaba's body down, then sat down beside it to take wind. He was out of shape and hadn't eaten in Oz knows how long. But he had to do this, for the memory of the _People of Oz_. Galinda was now Glinda, the "Ambassador of Goodness" in Oz and, though he knew it not, now the de facto ruler. Milla had returned to Munchkinland in the wake of the tragedy, back to her family with tales to tell her grandchildren. Fiyero was missing in action, and Ramon and Elphaba were now permanent members of the great beyond. He was the only one left to clean up after they had left or died: he would make up for how he had treated her before by now giving her, Elphaba, a proper burial.

After a while, he pushed himself up to his feet, then turned to the black sheet. He looked back at it, a look of surprise in his eyes. With two hands he opened the sheet up, finding a small puddle of blood coalescing at the bottom. He looked about in the dim light of the tunnel, and yet he saw no trail of blood. He hadn't heard anyone approach, and he would have heard anyone opening the sheet up. Yet here he was, alone in the tunnels beneath Kiamo Ko, with nothing more than a blood-stained black sheet.

Elphaba Thropp was gone.

* * *

><p><strong>(AN: There we go. The story is now done, and we can call this failed experiment over.)<strong>

**(Like with "On My Own", the words from the _Wicked_ finale were slightly altered [artistic license, and because this isn't song-verse], and the Owl and Donkey reappear: they're a kind of dark parody of the sudden love of a certain guitarist who also was killed on-stage. It's strange how, when people live, we are either indifferent or spiteful towards them, only to worship them once they die [usually prematurely].)  
><strong>

**(We also get to see Avaric's return, and an open ending. You know, the whole "Not yet" thing from Maguire's _Wicked_. Leaves you wondering, doesn't it?)  
><strong>


End file.
